The Shared Doom
by Baron Zed
Summary: During their training trip Jiraiya and Naruto end up at Jusenkyo where they meet with Ranma and Genma. Due to what happens at the Pools of Sorrow, they agree to team up so that Naruto can learn taijutsu from the Saotomes and Ranma can learn chakra control from Jiraiya. Different-Spring!Ranma. Cursed!Naruto. Cursed!Jiraiya.
1. Chapter 1: Jusenkyo

Ranma and his friends were created by Rumiko Takahashi. Naruto and his friends were created by Masashi Kishimoto. This is fan fiction created for fun.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I anticipate this being a longer-term project like _The Vulpine Rabbit_ rather than a short story like _The Missing Bijuu_ or _There and Back Again_. The characters will end up in Nerima first before heading to Konoha.

Edited 2016-01-26: I've changed Ranma's age to 15 so the group ends up at the same school as Kunou.

* * *

Fourteen-year-old Uzumaki Naruto was trudging along behind his sensei, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, through the mountains in a place called China. They had gone quite far inland. He could hardly imagine that they were still in the same country. This China must be bigger than all the Elemental Nations combined. They were about a year into their projected three-year training journey. Jiraiya had thought it was a good idea to spy on the International Kunoichi Association's hot springs party. A group of kunoichi with a star inside a circle with some lines connecting the two on their hitai ate [ _forehead protector—a metal plate that has the village symbol on it_ ] had been especially persistent in chasing them. Jiraiya had been closed lipped about them other than saying they were from Nadeshiko Village. They had taken it easy after passing through the border that surrounded the Elemental Nations, which protected them from the outside world, but the kunoichi kept pursuing them. So they had gone inland.

"Why are we still heading inland?" he complained. "Surely they've given up by now."

"Why does it matter?" his sensei responded. "You don't have any place to be for another two years."

"I thought that the reason you couldn't train me in Konoha was that you had to keep up your spy network? How are you doing that all the way out here?"

The Toad Sage chuckled sheepishly. "Couldn't have counted on those foul-tempered Nadeshiko kunoichi."

"Really? They looked like they knew you."

They continued walking. "Hey when are you going to teach me another awesome technique? You haven't taught me one since the Rasengan [ _Spiraling Sphere_ ] and that was before the training trip."

"I've told you before, Naruto. You need to get the basics down first. After that the next priority is teaching you to use the Kyuubi's [ _Nine Tails_ ] chakra."

The blonde teenager pouted. "Ah man, aren't my taijutsu [ _body techniques, i.e., martial arts_ ] and chakra control good enough yet?"

"Your taijutsu has improved greatly. It's probably chuunin [ _middle ninja_ ] rank now. As for your chakra control, it would also be chuunin level too, if you had the chakra reserves of a normal chuunin. As it is with your huge reserves, you are almost at the effective chakra control of a fresh genin. [ _low ninja_ ] When you can do a Rasengan one-handed, then we'll move on to teaching you new techniques."

They came up over the ridge and saw a valley filled with many little ponds with bamboo shoots sticking out of them. There were narrow spaces to walk between the ponds. A hut stood some distance from where the ponds ended.

* * *

"Why are we here again, Pop?" asked 15-year-old Saotome Ranma. They had just arrived at the outskirts of the Jusenkyo [ _Pools of Sorrow_ ] Valley.

"This is a legendary training ground, Boy!" his father Saotome Genma proclaimed. "Quit whining like a girl."

"I thought we were going to see that guy in Hong Kong?" asked Ranma.

"Well, you see. . ." his father weaseled. "This place was closer."

"Really, Pop?" he yelled back. "We're almost to Tibet! You're dodging some type of trouble, aren't you?"

"Boy, respect your elder!" his father shouted.

"Respect? You?" he snarked. "I lost all respect after the after the third time you sold me. I respect you as a martial arts teacher—most of the time—but that's it!"

Before too long they had made it down to the edge of the ponds. There was a sign posted there, but Ranma didn't recognize any of the kanji-like characters. A large number of the characters used in Chinese were similar Japanese kanji, [ _Chinese-origin Japanese word characters_ ] but Ranma's kanji knowledge was limited compared to others his age due to his spotty education. The only character Ranma recognized was the one for "Danger."

His father hopped out onto the closest bamboo stick and then farther into the collection of ponds.

"Come on, Boy," he yelled. "Don't be a scared little girl."

Ranma sighed and hopped out onto a pole.

"Don't get wet, Boy!"

They heard a man yelling at them. Ranma looked and saw a fat man in an old Chinese Army uniform waving at them. He thought he heard Mandarin, Cantonese, Tibetan, and even Korean. "You speak Japanese?" he yelled back.

"Very dangerous, Mr. Customer. Please come back, no?" the man yelled in accented Japanese.

* * *

As they came down the hill, Naruto could see a fat man in a drab green outfit yelling at a boy his age and another fat man who were out on the poles above the ponds.

"Very dangerous, Mr. Customer. Please come back, no?" the green-clothed man yelled.

"What's so dangerous?" asked Naruto.

"Oh, more customers!" said the man. "Water is cursed. You fall in you take form of what drowned there until you receive warm water. Then cold water renews the curse. Should stay away."

Naruto did not know if he believed in curses, but he had seen enough weird things in his short life that he was not willing to take the chance.

The three of them watched the boy and the man spar, jumping from bamboo stalk to bamboo stalk. The boy got a good hit on the man, who fell into one of the ponds. The boy started laughing at the man.

A large panda burst out of the water where the man had been submerged. The panda was wearing glasses and a ratty training gi.

The green-clothed man said, "Ah, Mr. Customer fall in Spring of Drowned Panda. Very tragic story of panda that drowned 800 years ago."

The panda caught the boy by surprise and landed a vicious blow that sent the boy flying.

Naruto decided to spare the boy a curse and leapt toward him with a chakra-enhanced jump. He caught the boy and created Shadow Clones mid-air to toss the two of them toward a wooden platform in the middle of the ponds. Naruto landed on the wooden platform and started to set the other boy down when the platform collapsed and they both plunged into the water with Naruto still holding on to the other boy.

* * *

Ranma was beyond shocked when the panda burst out of the water where his father had been. The blow the panda hit him with sent him flying like a line drive launched from a baseball bat. He was surprised when he was caught by a stranger—a boy about his own age. The boy created two solid duplicates which tossed them toward a wooden platform between several of the ponds.

As they landed, Ranma was about to thank the other boy when he heard some creaking and the boards they were standing on creaked and broke. Both of them plunged into the water.

The cold seeped into Ranma's body followed by an intense, hate-filled, burning energy. The cold and the burning energy seemed to battle through his body. Finally, he surrendered to unconsciousness.

* * *

Ranma came to in a sewer-like place filled with pipes, with water on the floor. Half of the sewer seemed to have a red tint to it. The other half seemed to half an orange tint. There were five types of pipes—each with its own type of energy. Two were on each side and one that was on both. He could feel what was going though the pipes: The narrowest type felt very Ranma-ish, but he could also feel the cold from before permeating the energy that felt like himself. He figured that was his ki. The largest type seemed to be coming from a large, barred gate. It felt like the burning, malicious energy he had felt while in the water.

He could see two figures. One of them was not too far from him, but on the other side of the dividing line of the sewer. The other was standing outside the gate. He walked toward the closest figure. She was feminine, with blonde hair, blonde fox ears, and three blonde tails.

When he took a few steps he noticed something weird. His hips were moving oddly and he had strange weights on his tailbone and his chest. He looked down and saw girlish breasts and screamed.

* * *

Naruto looked around at the sewer. It looked different than the other times he had been here. There were more pipes and some of them were different than before. There seemed to be a distinction between the half he was in and the half where he saw another figure. She had a feminine figure with red hair, red fox ears, and red three fox tails.

He frowned. There was no way that the Kyuubi would appear with less than its full complement of tails, but he decided to be careful anyway. She might be its servant.

There was another figure with spiky blond hair next to the Kyuubi's cage.

He was wondering if he should go talk to one of the figures when he felt something weird shifting near his tailbone. He looked over his shoulder and saw three yellow-blond fox tails and screamed.

* * *

Ranma idly noticed that the blonde foxgirl was screaming. He heard a masculine voice say, "Hey, miss? What's wrong?"

"I'm a boy!" Ranma shouted.

"Naruto?" the man asked, shocked.

"My name's Ranma, Saotome Ranma."

"What happened, Ranma?" the man asked.

"I was sparring with my Pop at this new training ground. It had lots of ponds. My Pop fell in one and then a panda popped out of it and attacked me. I went flying, but a blond kid caught me. We landed on this wooden platform, but it collapsed and we fell into some water. Everything went cold and then hot and that's the last thing I remember before waking here, with breasts!"

"My name's Namikaze Minato. I have some idea where we are, but I was expecting to see my son. For some reason, you look remarkably like my wife did when she was younger. How about we go talk to the other young lady?"

"I'm a boy!" Ranma reflexively said.

"Right, right," the blond man said.

They approached the blonde foxgirl who they heard whimpering, "I'm not the fox. I'm not the fox."

* * *

Naruto could hear some splashing. He looked up and saw the blond man—the Yondaime? [ _Fourth_ ]—and the red-haired foxgirl approach. The redhead looked a lot like a clothed version Naruto's Oiroke no Jutsu [ _Sexy Technique_ ] complete with whisker birthmarks except for the hair color and fox accessories.

"You wouldn't happen to be Naruto, would you?" asked the Yondaime look-alike.

"Yes," he answered. He noticed that his voice sounded feminine and looked down and noticed he had breasts. He looked back at the others and said, "You don't happen to know what happened, do you?"

"Not really," said the Yondaime look-alike. "I've been fighting the part of the Kyuubi that I sealed within me in the Shinigami's [ _Shinto death god_ ] stomach since I died. I left a Shadow Clone in the seal that holds the rest of the Kyuubi which I absorbed when I came here, so I know what's happened in your life, Naruto. You must have gotten cursed like that other man."

"So we're stuck like this forever?" asked the redhead.

"I don't know," said the Yondaime.

"I don't want to be a weak girl!" she whined.

Naruto ignored her. "You're the Yondaime Hokage?" [ _Fourth Fire Shadow_ ] he asked.

The blond man smiled. "Yep, I'm Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, but I'd like you to call me Dad."

"What?" he yelled. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I can only assume that the Sandaime [ _Third_ ] did it to protect you. I had many enemies and even within Konoha there would be those that would have harmed you if they'd known."

"Why did you seal the Kyuubi inside me?" Naruto asked.

"I had three reasons. First, I trusted you to be able to use the Kyuubi's power responsibly and I knew that Konoha would have need of it due to things that happened at your birth. Second, it was either you or try and seal it back into your mother. Only an Uzumaki or maybe a Senju has strong enough chakra to contain the Kyuubi. Your mother was dying and I didn't know if that would free the Kyuubi again. Third, I couldn't ask another parent to make a sacrifice I couldn't make myself."

Naruto made a fist and slugged his father in the stomach. "Do you know what type of hell my life has been because of that?"

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I really thought the villagers would treat you better."

The redhead spoke up. "I'm Saotome Ranma, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I find beating on my pop therapeutic, too."

"Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato," [ _Village Hidden by the Tree Leaves; Konoha for short_ ] he replied. "You were the boy I tried to prevent from being cursed, right?"

The redhead rubbed the back of her (his?) neck. "I guess. What's this curse you're talking about?"

"The man in green just said something about cold water renewing the curse, warm water deactivating it, and about a Spring of Drowned Panda."

"So the panda was my pop?"

"I think so," Naruto replied.

Ranma snorted. "It suits him."

Naruto said, "Hey, Dad. You mentioned Mom used to be the container of the Kyuubi? What can you tell me about her?"

"Your Mom was Uzumaki Kushina before we married. She had beautiful red hair and was a real firecracker. Her nickname was Red-Hot Habanero. It's true that she was the second container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, [ _Nine-Tailed Fox_ ] except it was a better kept secret than you being the container. Someone freed the Fox the day you were born. If you want to know about her, I might be able to do better. She also left chakra in the seal. I might be able to make a chakra-replenishing seal to replace her chakra as it's used so that her Shadow Clone can stick around, too."

"That would be awesome, Dad!" Naruto cheered.

"It's odd," said Minato, "but you both look a lot like her, although now that I get a better look at you, there are some differences that might have come from Ranma."

"So we look like each other?" asked Ranma.

The blond man smiled. "Yes, you look like identical twins other than the hair color. If you want to see what you look like with the curse, just look at each other."

He continued, "About the seal for your mom, Naruto, I'll need a bit of time to prepare and make sure I get it right, since I'll only have one shot at this."

Naruto looked toward the cage. "Should we go and see if the Kyuubi knows anything about what happened?"

"That's a good idea," said his dad.

* * *

Ranma followed the blonds toward the gate. He was doing his best to ignore the changes to the way his hips moved and the bouncing on his chest. The swishing of his tails was not as bad—he could actually think of cases where they would be useful in a fight, but did not want to think of any of it.

The three of them stood in front of the gate. A giant set of slitted eyes and a mouthful of pointy teeth loomed out of the darkness just beyond the gate. Ranma started to get nervous, until the head came forward and he could clearly see that it was vulpine rather than feline.

He chuckled. When the other two looked at him, he said, "I was worried, just a bit, that it might be something demonic like a cat."

The two blonds looked at him like he was crazy.

A booming voice roared out from the giant fox. "Foolish little kit, I am the great and terrible Kyuubi no Youko. [ _Nine-Tailed Demon Fox_ ] I am much more demonic than any cat."

Ranma just waved him off. It wasn't like anything, even cats, really scared him. He just knew to be cautious around the little hellbeasts.

The giant fox said, "I must say that I prefer your new look, little jailer."

"Are you perving on me, Fox?" shouted Naruto.

"What?" boomed the fox, sounding offended. "I am above such mortal affairs. I merely meant that your appearance is improved because you look more like me, the pinnacle of creation, than the hairless monkey you were."

"Do you know what happened, Kyuubi?" asked Minato.

"Ah, Yondaime, how I would love to rip you to pieces for sealing me in your spawn. However, since it means I am whole again, I am willing to put up with your disgusting visage."

"So, you don't know," commented Minato.

"Of course I know," snarled the Kyuubi. "The death magic in this accursed location interacted with the Shiki Fuujin [ _Dead Demon Consuming Seal_ ] you placed on your spawn. Symbolically, my jailer died to assume his new form. This released you and my yin half from the Shinigami. My other half was drawn to me and you were drawn to the chakra you left behind in the seal. However, the Eight Trigrams Seal still holds me in this miserable cage."

"Ah, thank you," said Minato. "But why is Ranma here?"

"The magic of this place works by changing a person based on what they would have been if they were born as the cursed form. Since your spawn and the other were in close contact, their traits were mixed. This is why they look so similar. They are essentially sisters in their new forms."

"I'm a boy!" shouted Ranma.

The Kyuubi laughed. "What a delightful verbal tick!"

Ranma frowned. He did not know what that meant, but did not want to show it. The Kyuubi laughed harder, as if he knew what Ranma was thinking.

"The magic of this place plays on your weaknesses and insecurities," the Kyuubi said. "The redheaded vixen hates being called a girl, so it made her a girl. The blonde vixen does not want to be seen as a fox, so it made her a fox. The magic saw an opportunity to target both weaknesses and took it."

Ranma resisted the urge to repeat that he was a boy. He would not give the fox the satisfaction. The fox laughed again.

"So the magic is sentient?" asked Minato.

"No, it merely has directives it must fulfill. It's like one of your advanced seals."

"Why is Pop a panda, then?" asked Ranma. "I don't think he's afraid of them."

"The magic targets either an insecurity or a weakness. From your surface thoughts I can tell that your father is greedy and lazy. His panda form magnifies these."

"You can read our thoughts?" asked Naruto.

The Kyuubi laughed. "We are connected through the seal, little vixen. The loss of the Shiki Fuujin opens us to each other a little more. To continue the explanation, the magic, when it sought your potential foxgirl forms, copied the Eight Trigrams seal onto the redheaded vixen and linked us."

"It merged their mindscapes?" asked Minato. "That sounds dangerous."

"This isn't their mindscape, per se," replied the Kyuubi. "It's a metaphysical representation of the seal. It is linked to their mindscapes, however, so their mindscapes are linked via the seal-scape."

Ranma wasn't sure he followed that, but he didn't want to look like an idiot.

"What's the difference?" asked Naruto.

"He's saying that your minds don't overlap, they just touch," said the older blond.

"So we could talk mind-to-mind?" asked Naruto.

"Maybe, if you worked at it," said Minato. He looked at the Kyuubi. "How do you know all this? You haven't been here before, have you?"

"I am a 1000-year-old being of energy, foolish mortal. I could see how the magic of this place effected my containers."

"Why are you being so helpful?" asked Naruto. "You never have been before."

"I'm feeling generous because I can taste my freedom. With the removal of the Shiki Fuujin, you won't pull me down with you when you die, and it's likely that I will escape very soon." The great beast laughed. "The redheaded vixen can contain me in her current form due to its inherent magics, but her natural form is weak. When she switches back, she won't be able to hold me. Once I'm free, I'll be able to finish what I started 14 years ago."

"I'm not weak!" shouted Ranma. "I'm the greatest martial artist of my generation!"

The Kyuubi laughed. "Begone, mortals. I tire of your foolishness."

Ranma felt a force push at him.

Suddenly, he was surrounded by water. He felt an arm on his shoulder. He pushed off the other person and made for the surface.


	2. Chapter 2: Cursed

**Author's Note:** It might not be obvious from the preceding chapter, but Ranma hit Jusenkyo a year to a year and a half earlier than in Canon due to a butterfly effect caused by Jiraiya's presence in China.

* * *

Naruto found himself back in the water. He was holding onto someone. He assumed it was Ranma. Ranma pushed off him and rose toward the surface. Naruto followed him. He broke the surface of the water and saw Ranma's red-haired head sticking out of the water a short distance away. The platform that had covered the pond was gone other than a few splinters that were floating on the surface.

"Naruto, is that you?" called Jiraiya from a short distance away. He was standing at the edge of the pool. "There was a huge eruption of the Fox's chakra and you both stayed under a little bit longer than the other man."

"Yeah," Naruto responded. "It's me."

"What happened?" his sensei asked.

"Evidently the magic decided to combine my doom with Ranma's and now we both have foxgirl curses."

"Doom?"

"The Kyuubi said that the magic targets your insecurities or weaknesses and guides you to the appropriate pool."

"You talked to the Kyuubi?" asked Jiraiya. "How did it know anything about this place?"

By this time both Naruto and Ranma had made it out of the pond. Ranma had evidently spotted his father because she yelled, "Pop! I'm going to kill you!" Naruto knew it was hypocritical, but he had a hard time thinking of Ranma as she was now, as a boy.

He had a thought. "Hey," he said. "I met my Dad in the seal, too. He was your student. You knew who my parents are and you never told me!" He finished with a shout.

"Now, now, Naruto," said Jaraiya, making calming motions with his hands. "Neither Tsunade or I thought you were ready to know yet. It could cause some bad things for you if it got out, and you've never been very discrete."

Naruto felt his temper start to fray. He began to be filled with an energy he recognized as filling the new pipes in the seal room. It wasn't hate-filled like the Kyuubi's. With it filling him, he felt wild, clever, and mischievous. If he chased Ero-sennin, [ _Pervert Sage_ ] the odds of him falling into a pond increased greatly. He knew he shouldn't, but the magic would only give him what he deserved, right? He let the energy radiate from him and foxfire sprang from him.

He said, "Ero-sennin, you know I've wanted to know who my parents were more than anything in the world. I would have promised almost anything to know, and you know I keep my promises." His new voice dripped sweetly with righteous, feminine indignation.

He could see sweat form on the Toad Sage's forehead. "Come here, Ero-sennin. I have something I want to demonstrate to you."

Jiraiya started to back up, but then thought better of it. He pivoted to turn and run, but his foot slipped in the wet earth separating the ponds. He tumbled into one of the ponds next to Naruto and Ranma's.

The figure that came up was shrunken and wrinkled with white, wispy hair. Jiraiya's large scroll floated beside it. The figure pushed it toward the shore, struggling due to oversized clothes. It held a gnarled staff in one of its hands. The figure finally made it to the shore with the scroll. The figure was barely a meter tall, if that, compared to Jiraiya's nearly two meters, so Jiraiya's clothes hung off of it. It took out a bottle of ink and drew a design on its clothes. It added chakra and the clothes shrank. They were still baggy, but now the sleeves and shirt did not drag on the ground.

"Are you satisfied now, Brat?" Jiraiya said in a scratchy granny voice.

The only thing that kept Naruto from collapsing to the ground in fits of laughter was how dangerous the location was. As it was, he couldn't help snickering. "Yeah, I think I've been avenged."

The two made their way to where the green-clothed man was. "Young Mr. Customer fall in Spring of Drowned Foxgirl _._ Very tragic story of Foxgirl who drown in spring 2500 years ago. Old Mr. Customer fall in Spring of Drowned Amazon Elder. Very tragic story of Amazon Elder who drown in spring 200 years ago. I am the Jusenkyo Guide. You sign guestbook. I tell you about curses."

* * *

Ranma chased his father. He felt a thrill as his prey ran from him. He felt something twist in his mind and he dropped to all fours. The strangeness of it brought him up short. He looked at himself and saw that he was now a red-colored fox. He looked over his shoulder and saw that he still had three tails. He felt very powerful, and if he could judge his size, he was probably the size of a large tiger. He resumed his chase, loping after the panda.

The panda that must be his father ran up the slope and brushed past a boy wearing a tiger-striped bandana, causing him to stumble. Ranma leaped over the boy and continued the chase. He had to admit to himself that running and leaping in this form was fun, but he hoped he could change back to the form that looked mostly human.

There were a lot of cliffs, some of them overlooked the pools and some of them stretched up to higher in the hills. He finally backed his father up against a cliff. He reined in his animalistic instincts—what he really wanted to do was pound him. He focused on being human. To his surprise, he became full-human. He felt his head and tailbone—no fox ears or tails. He was still a girl though.

He smacked his fist into his palm. "Prepare for a beating, Pop."

The panda held up a sign that said, **How can you change back and forth** —flip— **between human and animal?**

Ranma was not sure why, so he bluffed. "I'm just that awesome, Pop."

Ranma remembered that foxes were supposed to be shapeshifters. Maybe that was why he could do it. He wondered if he could change all the way back. He pictured his normal self and thought, 'Change.'

He felt a twisting within himself and looked down. No breasts. He was normal. He began to dance. "Never going to be a girl again. Never going to be a girl again."

He ducked the sign his pop threw at him and ran down the hill. He felt stiff and awkward, but he would live with it if it was the price to be normal. He was sure the stiffness would work its way out.

* * *

Naruto sat on the ground outside the guide's hut, waiting for the water to heat up. His tails made it hard to get comfortable at first before he finally knelt seiza-style to give them room to curve.

He heard a voice call out, "Too slow, Pop."

Male Ranma was running down the slope dodging signs being thrown by the panda presumed to be his father. Naruto wondered how he had changed back.

Ranma was periodically singing, "Never going to be a girl again."

Ranma and his father skidded to a stop right before Naruto. The panda leapt at the boy. Ranma ducked and nailed the fat panda with a side kick. The panda flew back.

"Hey, Ranma," Naruto said. "How did you change back?"

"Well, I changed into a giant fox, while chasing Pop and then to a full human girl. I remembered that foxes are supposed to be shapeshifters, so I just willed myself back."

"How big of a fox?" Jiraiya asked nervously.

"Tiger sized," he answered. He held his hand up to chest level.

Naruto decided to experiment. He thought of changing to a fox. Something inside him twisted and he dropped to all fours. He looked up at Ranma. This was not a giant fox. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that he only had one tail. He thought of changing into a giant fox. Something inside him twisted and he grew. He was now chest high on Ranma. He looked over his shoulder and saw he had all three tails back. He thought of turning human. The same thing inside him twisted and he stood on two legs again. He was a girl. Looking over his shoulder he saw that his tails were gone. He rubbed his head. No fox ears. He thought of being a foxgirl and felt the twisting inside. He saw that he had tails again and felt the fox ears on top of his head. He instinctively knew that those were his normal forms for his cursed body, although the normal-sized fox and the pure human forms seemed slightly less normal. He pictured his normal human form and concentrated on changing. He looked down and saw that he was in his normal body, although it did not feel normal. Something was off. It felt kind of like using the Transformation Technique, although he could tell he was not using any chakra.

"That was kind of fun," he said.

"Speak for yourself," said Ranma. "I'm just glad to be normal again."

"That's what's odd," said Naruto. "I don't feel normal."

"I know what you mean," said Ranma, "but I'm sure you'll get used to it."

Ranma's panda father stepped into Naruto's personal space. He was waving a sign that said, **How'd you do that?**

"I don't know," he replied. "I just concentrated on changing."

The panda looked constipated for a moment. **It's not working** —flip— **Why isn't it working?**

"I think it's because he lacks awesomeness," said Ranma.

Naruto laughed. "I think it's because foxes are natural shapeshifters—at least supernatural foxes like Ranma and me."

The panda seemed to be pouting.

"Hey," Naruto said to the panda. "Where are you getting those signs?"

The panda simply shrugged.

* * *

Ranma tuned out Naruto and Jiraiya as they started to talk about what had happened in the seal place. Currently, Naruto was berating the old crone about not telling him about his parents. The conversation got Ranma to thinking about his mother. He really did not know anything about her. His memory from before the Cat Fist training was minimal.

"Hey, Pop," he said. "What happened to Mom?"

The panda held up a sign. **Dead.**

"What do you mean dead? How?" asked Ranma.

 **Wasting disease.** He brought out a new sign. **Women make you soft** —flip— **You're better off without her.**

The other conversation had lapsed as Ranma had started to speak. Now the other boy and the crone were staring at the panda with looks of disbelief.

The crone cackled. "A woman I know would kill you for that."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Baachan [ _Granny (disrespectfully familiar)_ ] would turn you into paste."

Naruto changed into a well-endowed blonde woman.

"Woah," he said, "I don't know how she moves with these things." He indicated her chest. Naruto changed back to his male form.

Ranma thought the old man was looking suspicious. He determined to look through his pop's pack for clues the next chance he got.

* * *

Naruto could not believe how big of an idiot Ranma's father was. Before he could get back to explaining about what he'd learned from his father and the Kyuubi, the Guide returned bearing a kettle.

Jiraiya and the panda both sprang for it. Jiraiya nailed the panda in the head with the stick he was still carrying and snagged the kettle. He poured some of it on his head and sighed in relief as he turned back to normal. Luckily his clothes grew with him, although his pants seemed to be missing. The long shirt he was wearing was just barely modest.

"Ah, good to see that seal worked and good to be back to normal," the Toad Sage said. He tossed the kettle to the panda.

The panda changed back to the heavy man they had seen earlier. The panda used the rest of the water—more than he needed, but Naruto did not mind since he had already changed. The man adjusted his glasses and the gi he was wearing.

"I get pants," said the guide.

The guide returned with pants, which Jiraiya quickly put on to everyone's relief. "A specialized storage seal that swapped clothes would work better," the old man mumbled.

"Is there any way to remove the curse?" Jiraiya asked the Guide.

"Don't know of way," said the Guide. "Maybe Amazons know."

"Who are these Amazons?" asked the Toad Sage.

"Tribe woman warriors. Live not far here. Some them very wise."

Ranma's father snorted.

"Your loss, Pop," said Ranma. He started softly singing "Never going to be a girl again."

"Maybe we ought to at least see what they say," said the heavy man.

"What about replacing the curse by jumping in a different pool?" Jiraiya asked.

"Sometimes the curses replace, sometimes they add together," said the Guide. "I hear one time someone have two curses same time with cold, lukewarm, and hot water."

 _Tell Jiraiya not to chance it_ , Naruto heard. It sounded like his father's voice.

"Is that you Dad?" Naruto asked out loud.

 _Yes, but you can just think a response at me. I can read your surface thoughts_.

 _Okay,_ Naruto thought in response.

"That's pretty weird," Ranma said.

"You can hear my dad too?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, he said not to try replacing the curse," the black-haired boy responded.

 _Can you hear me, Ranma?_ Naruto tried.

 _I don't think he can hear you, Son_ , his father answered. _Maybe with some practice. Tell Jiraiya that I don't think the curses replace until you've learned whatever lesson they were supposed to teach._

"Dad says that he doesn't think the curses will replace until you've learned the lesson you were supposed to learn."

"That 'Doom' you were talking about earlier?" asked Jiraiya.

Naruto nodded.

"What 'Doom' is this?" asked Ranma's father.

"The Fox could see the magic of this place. He says that its mandate is to curse you with a form based on your insecurities and weaknesses."

"Fox?" asked the heavyset man.

"Naruto has a giant fox demon sealed inside him," said Jiraiya. "Evidently they talked while they were in the pool."

"Hah, I knew you were a weak girl, Boy" said the other boy's father.

 _It's probably his father's fault that he fears being seen as a girl due to all the name calling,_ said Naruto's dad.

"Naruto's pop says it's your fault for telling me that all the time!" Ranma yelled. He leapt at his father and they started bouncing around striking at each other.

The two were fast and vicious. They were not quite in Gai's league, but they could probably easily handle Lee with his weights on and without the Gates.

Jiraiya started asking the Guide about the area and the people that lived near here and what their cultures were like. Naruto only half paid attention, preferring to watch Rama and his dad whale on each other.

* * *

Ranma's stiffness and sense of being not himself were not going away, even as he fought his father. He ignored it. It was a small thing. He fought his father injured not infrequently, which was much worse. After sparring for perhaps half an hour he got his father in the chin with a good hook.

"Getting slow, Old Man," Ranma crowed as his father lay sprawled.

By this time, it was starting to get dark.

"Can we stay the night, Guide?" asked Naruto's companion, Jiraiya. "We can go see the Amazons tomorrow."

"Not much room inside," said the Guide.

"That's fine, we can camp out here," Jiraiya responded.

"That fine," said the Guide.

"I suppose we should introduce ourselves," said Jiraiya as he started to do a little shuffling dance, "From Mount Myouboku, the man that every woman wants, that every man wants to be, I am the Gallant Jiraiya the Toad Sage!"

Naruto said, "I just call him Ero-sennin."

"Show some respect, Brat!"

"Stop being a pervert!"

"I told you that I'm not a pervert, I'm a super pervert!"

Naruto bowed. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto or is it Namikaze Naruto? Ero-sennin and I are on a three-year training trip."

 _I don't mind if you use your mother's name, Naruto_ , said the blond's father. _To be honest, it has more history_.

Ranma sketched a quick bow. "Saotome Ranma, Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I'm also on a training journey. How long has it been, Pop? Nine, ten years?"

"About nine. Saotome Genma, Master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

* * *

Naruto chatted with Ranma about their training trips. He told a few stories about Jiraiya, but mostly he listened to Ranma. He liked Ranma, even though he was a braggart. He had to admit that Ranma had some cool stories, although he was dubious that his father had really done some of those things. No real father would do them, right? Although with the way Genma had tried to steal Ranma's food, maybe he was not exaggerating much.

Ranma stopped talking mid word.

"Hey, are you all right?" Naruto asked.

"The magic or whatever it is, is trying to twist back," Ranma said shakily.

Ranma changed into his foxgirl form. She looked like she was concentrating.

"It's not working." The boy turned girl was starting to panic.

"Try changing to something else," Naruto offered.

Ranma changed in quick succession into her human girl form, the giant fox form, and the normal fox form. After a minute she switched back to the foxgirl form.

"I can only do those four shapes," said Ranma.

Naruto changed into Jiraiya and then Ranma's original form and then back to his own original form.

"Weird," he said. "I can still do it."

"What am I going to do?" Ranma whined. "I don't want to be a girl."

"Maybe hot water?" Naruto offered.

 _I don't think that's a good idea_ , his dad said, _based on what the Kyuubi said._

Ranma banged on the Guide's door. "Hey, I want some hot water."

"Okay, Young Mr. Customer," said the Guide from inside. "I bring in few minutes."

Ranma paced, her tails lashing while they waited.

The minor discomfort that Naruto had been feeling while in his original form started to increase. He felt his magic trying to twist like Ranma had described. He let it go and found himself in his foxgirl form.

"Hey, it happened to me too!" he said.

He tried shifting back, but it didn't work. He tried Jiraiya and Tsunade again, but the only forms he could change to were the foxgirl, human girl, giant fox, and normal fox.

"It's been about three hours since you first changed into your normal shapes," said Jiraiya, "with Ranma changing a few minutes before Naruto. Maybe there's a time limit? Possibly three hours because you have three tails. I bet you'll be able to do it again later. Maybe tomorrow."

"I don't want to wait," Ranma pouted.

Naruto had to admit that the pout looked cute, especially the way that her ears drooped when she did it. He started to snicker, but then realized he probably looked the same when he pouted, since they were virtual twins.

"Stop whining like a weak girl," Genma commanded.

"This is all your fault, Pop!"

The Guide opened his door and brought out a kettle. Ranma quickly grabbed it and doused herself with it. He turned back into his original form. He started to smile, but then sank to the ground writhing in pain as red chakra began to boil up around him.

"Condensation!" Jiraiya yelled. He lobbed a small ball of water at Ranma.

The boy changed back into a foxgirl and the red chakra receded.

"What was that?!" Genma yelled.

"The Kyuubi no Youko was trying to escape," Jiraiya explained. "Naruto has been its jailer and container since shortly after birth. When they both fell into the same pond, part of the seal holding it transferred to your son. However, his natural form has no way of containing it. He'll need to stay in his cursed form for the foreseeable future."

"Foreseeable future?" yelled the boy's father.

"Let me take a look at him," Jiraiya said. His hand glowed green. "I'm not very good at medical ninjutsu, but I can still handle a basic diagnostic."

After a moment, the Toad Sage said, "He actually has a decent enough amount of chakra, but it's untrained and hasn't organized itself into coils. There's actually another energy that I don't recognize keeping the Kyuubi's chakra at bay right now. With the Kyuubi's chakra running through him, I think it would naturally form into the appropriate coils, but it would take a while—maybe ten years if left alone. With training from me, I bet it would be safe to change back in two years."

"I'll do it in less than one!" Ranma gasped out, sitting up.

"Hey, Ero-sennin," Naruto said. "I thought they usually sealed bijuu [ _tailed beast_ ] into babies because their chakra is undeveloped. At least, that's what Jiichan [ _Gramps (disrespectfully familiar)_ ] told me when I found out about the Kyuubi."

"A baby's chakra is actually very impressionable. It coils almost immediately when induced by foreign chakra. It also helped in your case that you had been exposed to your mother's chakra and the Kyuubi's chakra in the womb, so your coils had already started to form. What Sensei meant was that as a baby your chakra stretched to accommodate the Kyuubi more easily."

"What's chakra?" asked Ranma.

"How about you answer him, Naruto," Jiraiya said.

"It's the combination of physical and spiritual energy that allows you to do supernatural feats," the blond said.

"That sounds kind of like ki," said Ranma.

"I thought chakra was what the Indians called the major energy nodes within your body," said Genma.

"Huh, that sounds like the Hachimon [ _Eight Gates_ ] to me," said Jiraiya.

Genma waved it off. "It's not unusual for different traditions to use different terminology. What would it take for you to train the boy?"

"How about we work out a trade?" Jiraiya offered. "You and your son train Naruto in taijutsu and we'll train your son in chakra control and techniques."

"Body techniques?" Genma asked. "Oh, you mean the Art. Sure, we can do that. It would mean we would need to travel together for a while."

"That shouldn't be a problem," the Toad Sage said. "Naruto isn't due back home for another two years. I may need to leave at times, but Naruto can fill in for me while I'm gone. Deal?"

"Deal," Genma said with a nod.


	3. Chapter 3: Sisters

Ranma was mildly surprised that his pop had worked out a deal that did not involve trading him for food.

Naruto picked up the kettle and shook it. "All right!" she said as she poured some hot water on herself.

"Woohoo!" he shouted as he turned back to normal.

Ranma felt jealousy, sadness, and anger rise up within himself. He desperately tried to stop himself from crying. He mostly succeeded. His eyes only watered a little. He quickly retreated to his sleeping bag where he tried to get comfortable. He did feel pretty tired due to everything that had happened. As he fell asleep he wondered if his girl body was the reason he felt so weepy.

* * *

When Ranma woke up the next morning, he saw a couple of kettles being heated over a fire. Off to the side, Jiraiya was surrounded by two more kettles and four large pitchers of water. The currently female Naruto was wet and grumbling—her tails lashing irritatedly before disappearing as she changed to full human. Jiraiya's hand glowed green, showing he was using the diagnostic technique.

"What are you two doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying to see if there's anything that can temporarily lock the curse," said the white haired old man.

"Any progress?" asked Ranma. He was of mixed feelings about it. It would be useful when he finally could go back to his real body. For now, however, it would mean being really stuck as a girl. He supposed that was a good thing, but he hated it.

"Sort of," said Jiraiya. "I can sense. . . 'hooks,' I guess you could call them, in the energy that causes the transformation when Naruto is a girl, but when he's a boy, the energy is hidden. I think I could make a seal that would lock us in our cursed forms, but not our natural forms."

"Well, that's something, at least," said Naruto. "We wouldn't have to worry about the Fox escaping due to spilled tea with that."

"I guess," Ranma said, depressed.

"At least you won't have people trying to kill you if you get wet," snapped Naruto.

Genma-panda started choking and coughing where he was lying. The dew must have changed him. Ranma and the others looked at him suspiciously. Ranma decided to ignore his father, knowing from experience that he would deny anything was wrong, even if it was.

Jiraiya walked over to Genma and used his diagnostic technique on the panda.

The panda held up a sign. **What are you doing?**

"Naruto and Ranma's cursed forms have their own magic. I'm trying to see if the seal would work on you."

The panda held up a new sign. **Not interested.**

"This is for me," said the old man. "It's hard to run the diagnostic on myself."

"You're going to use your cursed form to peep, aren't you?" Naruto accused.

The Toad Sage emitted a perverted giggle. Then he sobered up. "I doubt it would work, at least not in Konoha. The curse would get out and girls would be on the lookout for a shrunken crone. No, I talked to the Guide and he said that the curse causes us to attract water. There are times it would be really inconvenient to change forms. Better to be an ugly crone than to switch back and forth sometimes."

Ranma looked down at himself and shuddered. It was going to be a long year or two. He quickly shapeshifted into his male self.

Naruto saw and then doused himself with hot water.

"Aren't you going to save your 'boy time,' Ranma?" asked the blond boy.

"I just need to be me, right now," he responded.

* * *

Naruto watched Jiraiya scribble on a notepad. He had been going at it all morning and it was approaching noon.

Ranma's "boy time" had run out about an hour ago. Since then, Ranma, had seemed to delight in making sure Naruto was in his cursed form. In retaliation, he had decided to use his own cursed form's "boy time." He noticed that his clothes shifted with him whenever he used his cursed form's shapeshifting power. Whenever he got hit with warm water, they went back to how they originally were. It was convenient since that meant he did not have to make tail holes because he always started off in his foxgirl form.

Ranma was currently running through some katas in her three-tailed form.

"Why do you have your tails showing?" asked Naruto. "Isn't better to at least look human?"

"My balance is different with the tails," said Ranma. "I can see using them to change my momentum, like extra arms."

"I'm never going to use that form or the other fox ones," Naruto said.

"I've noticed that I'm stronger and quicker in this one. My senses are almost as good as the fox ones, too. Maintaining the human girl and the small fox forms take a small amount of concentration too. Not as much as being a boy or someone else, but it's there. You might need the edge some time. I bet the three-tailed fox form is quicker too, in a sprint at least. Might be useful. And I bet you could hide pretty good as the small fox."

"Not around Konoha," Naruto grumped. "Foxes are hunted as pests. I would sometimes find a dead one left outside my door."

"Naruto, come here," called Jiraiya. "I want you in your foxgirl form."

"Why?" he said.

"Need to test out this seal on you and it would be best in the curse's 'most natural' form and since that's what you came out of the spring as. . ."

"Fine."

As he approached, Jiraiya asked, "Where do you want it? It would be best in a place you can easily reach, but is hidden from view by your normal clothes. I also don't think it would be a good idea for it to overlap your jinchuuriki [ _power of human sacrifice, i.e., tailed-beast containing_ ] seal."

"How about on my left side, here?" he touched the side of his slim, feminine waist, about even with his navel.

"That should be far enough away," Jiraiya said. "Left up your shirt so that I can apply it."

Jiraiya painted the seal. After he was done he said, "To activate it and deactivate it, apply chakra here." He pointed to the center of the seal where the kanji [ _Chinese-origin Japanese word characters_ ] for "unchanging" was written. "To start with you'll probably have to direct the chakra with your hand, but you may be able to do it without hands eventually."

"Will I need to touch skin or could I do it through clothes?" asked Naruto.

"You'll need to experiment to see," the Toad Sage answered. "Now I want you to activate it."

Naruto did so. "I felt the seal respond," he said.

"Let's test it," said his sensei. He took one of the kettles and splashed Naruto. He did not change.

"See if you can still use your cursed form's shapeshifting," Jiraiya said.

Naruto changed into full human.

"Good. Now for the control," said Jiraiya as he splashed Genma with cold water, turning him into a panda. He then splashed him with water from the same kettle he had splashed Naruto with. Genma-panda turned back into a man.

"Looks like it works," said Jiraiya, pleased with himself. "Your turn, Ranma."

Ranma sighed and approached.

"I'll put it in the same place as Naruto's," Jiraiya said. "Lift your shirt."

Jiriaya place his hand on Ranma's navel. An Eight-Trigrams seal appeared. "Yep, you have the same jinchuuriki seal as Naruto now."

Jiraiya painted the Jusenkyo-locking seal on Ranma's side.

"I've set up this seal, so that it takes enough chakra so that only when your chakra is matured enough and controlled enough to be safe will be able to activate it. I don't want you to try and talk Naruto into activating it to test it out. It's only safe when you can do it yourself."

The white-haired man stood up. "The seals should fade in about a day. If you need it to be visible to find it after that, flare your chakra. That will be evidence that you're getting closer, when you can flare your chakra and see your seals, Ranma. Let's test it out."

He splashed warm water on Ranma, who did not change. He then repeated the control test on Genma, who spluttered in irritation.

Jiraiya then activated his own curse with cold water and drew the seal around her navel. She control-tested the water to Genma's further irritation and then deactivated the seal and resumed his natural appearance.

Naruto deactivated his own seal and smiled as he resumed his own form. He was almost immediately splashed by Ranma.

"Why do you keep doing that?" he asked grumpily.

"If I've got to be like this, I don't see why you should enjoy your own form, _Sister_."

"Hah! I've still got some 'boy time' left, _Sister_ ," Naruto exulted.

Naruto laughed as Ranma pouted prettily.

"Hey, Ero-senin," Naruto said, "how come you're carrying around that stick?"

"It came into my hand when I was underwater in the pool. It's charged with chakra. It's not my chakra, but it seems. . . compatible, somehow—especially in my cursed form. It might be useful."

* * *

The guide led the four Jusenkyo victims through the forest on ill-defined paths. Both Ranma and Naruto's 'boy time' had expired. Ranma made sure that any attempt of Naruto to alleviate his curse through hot water failed.

Currently, Ranma was walking with his tails out, while Naruto was in her human girl form. Ranma's father was in panda form because he was too lazy to try and keep changing back. Jiraiya kept some warm water in an easy to access storage seal, which he used to keep himself male. The Toad Sage had stopped providing it to Naruto because of Ranma, saying he did not want to waste it. When Ranma asked Naruto why she let their sensei get away with that, she had responded that she would prefer not to look at Jiraiya's cursed form. Ranma had to agree.

There was a crashing sound up ahead.

"Tails in," Jiraiya commanded just loud enough to be heard by Ranma.

Ranma quickly shifted to human girl form.

A girl with purple hair crashed through the underbrush ahead of them. The girl yelled something in Mandarin Chinese that Ranma didn't understand. Behind her crashed a large man wrapped in bear furs.

Ranma and Naruto looked at each other and nodded. Ranma charged forward as he heard Naruto yell, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Ranma ducked under a wild, but powerful swipe of the large man's hand and landed a good jab into the man's stomach. The man grunted and gave a little ground, but remained upright. The man said something in Chinese, but Ranma ignored him.

Four Narutos came in from the sides and behind while Ranma took the man from the front. One of the Narutos got backhanded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The other three landed blows to the kidneys, shoulders, and head. Ranma took the opportunity to strike at the man's knee. The man collapsed with a cry.

"You alright?" Ranma asked the girl who was standing by Jiraiya.

"Japanese?" asked the girl.

"Yep," Ranma replied.

"This one thank for help," the girl said in a high, bubbly voice. Her Japanese was highly accented and her word choice was odd. "Mother is fighting more Musk. Help her?"

"The Gallant Jiraiya could never turn down a damsel in distress," proclaimed the Toad Sage. "Brats, stay here and help our new friend. I'll rescue her mother."

With that Jiraiya ran off into the brush following the path that the girl and her pursuer had left.

The girl approached Ranma and kissed him on the forehead. Ranma blushed. "Kiss of Sisterhood. You save Hero Woman from fate worse than death. We Sisters now."

Ranma opened his mouth to protest, but heard Naruto's father say, _Let it go, Ranma. Some of these isolated tribes have weird customs. There are worse things than being seen as her sister. If she knows you're a boy, it might offend her pride which could cause a fight to the death or something embarrassing. Jiraiya admitted while once drunk that a kunoichi from Nadeshiko Village claimed they had to marry because he beat her in a fight. When he wouldn't relent and marry her, he got her to go away by agreeing to pass the obligation on to one of his students._

Ranma reluctantly stayed quiet. He decided to avoid this Nadeshiko place since he was technically one of Jiraiya's students now.

 _Yes, that's probably why,_ Naruto, said Minato to something Naruto had asked. _You should let her do it to you too_.

The girl repeated the process with Naruto.

While the girl was busy with Naruto, Ranma's father held up a sign, **Why did you let her kiss you, Boy!**

Ranma signaled his pop with the code his pop taught him that he would explain later.

"This one is called Shaanpuu. How are you called, Sisters?"

 _Call yourselves Naru and Ran_ , suggested Minato.

"I'm Naru," said Naruto.

"I'm Ran," said Ranma reluctantly.

 _If she asks, tell her that Jiraiya is your godfather, Naruto_ , Minato said.

 _Yes, Naruto, I'll explain later_ , Minato said to a question that Ranma could not hear.

 _If she asks if you are really sisters, say that you were raised apart and just barely united_ , Minato suggests.

"Who is male, Sisters?" asked Shaanpuu.

"Jiraiya is my godfather and guardian," said Naruto.

"You sisters, yes?" asked the girl.

Naruto nodded. "We were raised separately, however. We were just united."

"It sad that sisters be apart," Shaanpuu said. She looked at them. "You have odd color hair for Japanese."

Naruto said, "Ran grew up in Japan, but I'm from Hi no Kuni. [ _Land of Fire_ ] Blonde or red hair is not unusual there. Mom had red hair."

"Land of Fire? This one does not know that place."

"It's on a large, hidden island off the coast of Japan," Naruto said.

"Ah."

At that point Jiraiya came back carrying an injured, unconscious woman.

Shaanpuu cried, "Mother!"

"I patched her up so she won't bleed out," said Jiraiya. "She's hurt pretty badly, but I think she'll make a full recovery, eventually, if you have good healers in your village."

Shaanpuu led them to the Amazon village. Ranma noticed Naruto drop back to talk quietly to Jiraiya.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Naruto doesn't know English at all and Ranma doesn't know it very well, so the joke with the Amazon's name isn't apparent to them at this point. As far as I know, Ms. Takahashi never provided actual Chinese versions of the Amazon's names and very brief research seems to indicate that there aren't real Chinese equivalents to their names, so I'm using Japanese phonetics since this story is from Ranma and Naruto's point of view.


	4. Chapter 4: Amazons

At the village gates they were met by a large party of armed women. Shanpuu talked rapidly in a language that Naruto assumed was some kind of Chinese. Three shrunken crones that looked vaguely like Jiraiya's cursed form approached. They had staffs like the one Jiraiya had found in the cursed pool and they were hopping using them! Shanpuu spoke with them for several minutes.

One of the crones said, "My name is Koron, an Elder of the Tribe of Hero Women and the Grandmother and Great Grandmother of the women you saved. Come with me please, Honored Sisters of Shaanpuu. You come too, Male. Bring my granddaughter with you."

Jiraiya looked irritated, but followed anyway. Shaanpuu grabbed Naruto and Ranma's hands and dragged them along. The Guide and Gemna were left behind. Naruto was slightly worried as to what Genma could get up to based on Ranma's stories.

The crone led them to a large hut. There was a cot prepared in the center of the main room.

"Place my granddaughter on the cot, Male, and we will care for her."

Jiraiya placed the injured woman on the cot and said, "I am Jiraiya the Toad Sage. I would appreciate being called by my name. Since I have done you a service, it's the least you can do."

Koron hopped around him as if inspecting him. Jiraiya took it with ill grace, but said nothing. When she hopped behind him, she gasped.

The crone lunged for his Jusenkyo staff which was strapped above the large scroll on his back. He grabbed it at the same time that she did.

"Where did you get this!" Koron demanded.

"I found it in a pool. I paid for it in a way that I doubt you can understand. I ask that you release it."

"Jusenkyo?" she asked.

He nodded. She hopped to a basin and filled a cup with water. Naruto felt Jiraiya flare his chakra a small amount. He wondered what he was doing.

 _I think he's turning a water repellant seal_ , said his dad.

 _Thanks, Dad_ , Naruto replied. He felt warm inside that he had contact with his dad, even if it was in this limited way.

The Amazon threw the water from the cup at Jiraiya, who shrank into his cursed form. Her scroll and pants hit the floor. As before parts of her robes shrank so they were not dragging on the floor.

Shaanpuu gasped.

"So that's what happened to Heirupin," said Koron. "We thought as much."

"You knew the woman who drowned there?" asked Jiraiya. "The Guide said it was 200 years ago."

The Elder cackled. "I was a young Elder when she went missing, but yes, I knew her." She continued to hop around Jiraiya, to the Toad Sage's irritation. "You must be the first to fall in her pool, if you came out of it with her staff, or maybe Jusenkyo found you more worthy than others? It's hard to say with Jusenkyo."

"I can feel. . . chakra in the staff," said Jiraiya. "It feels compatible—especially when I'm like this. I think I could learn to use it."

"That's interesting," said Koron. "Touch mine." She held out her staff for Jiraiya to touch.

"I can feel the chakra in it, but it's definitely incompatible, even if it's of the same nature as the chakra in mine."

"Since I find you intriguing, Toad Sage, I will tell you what the staff is," said Koron. "There is a meditation ritual whereby an Amazon Elder can combine the natural ki from the world around her with her own personal ki and store it in the staff. The resulting ki is much more potent, allowing for us to stretch our reserves, even past when our bodies don't produce enough to maintain ourselves naturally. This is how I was alive 200 years ago. The drawback is looking like we do. It's interesting that you think you can use Heirupin's staff. Of course, the ritual to store the ki is quite hazardous. I recommend that you don't try and replace the ki in the staff through experimentation."

"Hmm, that sound suspiciously like Sage Mode," said Jiraiya. "I hadn't thought of using it this way. If it is Sage Chakra, you're right. Turning to stone would be the likely result if you did it incorrectly."

Koron fell off her staff. "And you can do this Sage Mode?" she demanded.

"I can with the help of the Toad Elders. I'll have to look into perfecting it."

"And do you two hold equal surprises?" she asked Naruto and Ranma.

The two both chuckled nervously as they glanced at each other.

 _We've got to work on your poker faces_ , commented Minato as Kuron started to circle them.

* * *

Ranma felt uneasy as the old woman circled him and Naruto. Suddenly, Kuron struck a spot in his back. He involuntarily gasped as a wave of disorientation passed through him. He heard Naruto gasp as well. He felt weight on his tailbone and looked to see his tails visible. Naruto's tails and ears could be seen as well.

"What's the big idea!?" he yelled as he got into a stance. Naruto prepared herself beside him.

"Peace, young warriors," said the old hag. "I felt magic in you and simply used a pressure point that temporarily disrupts the ability to use it. You can renew your disguises now, if you desire."

Ranma took his not-a-stance stance. He was still prepared to fight, but did not appear to be to any but the most experienced. He noticed that Naruto quickly became full human again. He decided not to bother.

The old woman cackled. "Don't trust me, young one? I deserve that, I suppose. Are you victims of Jusenkyo as well?"

Ranma looked at Naruto, who looked at him and then Jiraiya. Jiraiya shrugged. Finally, Ranma said, "Yeah, these are our cursed forms. We can shapeshift a little with them."

"And the panda too, I suppose," she said.

"Yeah," said Naruto. "You should probably have someone watch the panda. He's not the most trustworthy."

Ranma was confident that he and his pop could handle anything the Amazons could dish out, but did not want his pop to ruin things before they could find out about their curses, so he let Naruto's comment go.

"I sensed something malicious in you two, also," said Koron. "I'd appreciate a description of what it is, before I allow you to stay here."

Jiraiya said, "Naru and Ran have a great beast made of chakra, or ki as I think you call it, imprisoned within them. It is old and malicious. About 14 years ago it rampaged through our village. The only choice was to seal it away inside a living person. The seal is quite sophisticated and contains the beast quite safely without any mental contamination. The only time it has any influence is if one of them tries to use its power or if their curse deactivates. Ran doesn't know how to use it, and Naru can only use a small fraction of its power. I've placed a seal on them that prevents the curse from deactivating unintentionally."

"Interesting," the Amazon Elder said. "That explanation is sufficient. I assume that you don't have a way to lock yourself in your natural form?"

"Not really," said Jiraiya. "The 'hooks' that allowed me to lock the cursed form aren't present when the curse is deactivated. I've worked out a water repelling seal, but it has some pretty serious limitations."

"We have some members of our tribe with Jusenkyo curses that would benefit from your water-repelling charm. Will you share it with us?"

"It's too complicated for me to teach you how to make, but I will trade ten copies of it to you for being able to stay here for a short time and for you to tell us everything you know about Jusenkyo."

"I accept. As Shaanpuu's sisters, Ran and Naru would be able to stay as long as they like, regardless. For rescuing my granddaughter Jeiru, I would extend the same offer to you. Naru, Ran, Shaanpuu can show you around the village."

Shaanpuu, who had stood off to the side during the meeting, approached Ranma.

"Sister," she said, "Can I touch your tail?"

Ranma shrugged.

Shanpuu gently stroked one of Ranma's tails. It felt odd, but not bad.

"Tail is very soft, Sister," she said. She looked at Naruto. "Why does Sister Naru hide tails?"

"The chakra beast we jail is a fox," Naruto answered. "Some of the people where I grew up thought I was the beast. I'm not very comfortable with foxes because of that. Ran didn't grow up there, so she's better with it."

"Oh, that very sad," she responded. "Are you born sisters?"

 _I recommend that you don't lie to the Amazons, but I wouldn't give them the full truth either_ , said Minato.

"Jusenkyo made us sisters when we fell into the same pool at the same time," said Ranma. "Best we can tell is that we're twins now in our cursed forms." Ranma found that since he was cursed he was better at explaining himself when he tried and cleverer with words.

"The burden of the chakra beast was also shared at Jusenkyo," said Naruto. "Before then, the burden was mine alone. The shared burden also makes us sisters."

"That is too true," said Shaanpuu. "A shared burden is main reason warriors decide to become sisters if not born sisters. Come, Sisters. I show you village."

Naruto found the Amazon village interesting. It was much more similar to Konoha than the bigger cities in China were.

"Sisters, you no accept challenges, okay?" said Shaanpuu as she guided them through the village.

"Why not?" asked Ranma. "Surely a friendly spar would be alright?"

"Hah!" said Shaanpuu, "You are not exactly Outsiders, since you are the Sisters of Shaanpuu. Probably not given 'Kiss of Death' if beat Hero Woman. Could be forced to give 'Kiss of Marriage,' if lose to male, though. Best you ask me or Elder before you do challenge or spar. Actually, better ask me or Great Grandmother—other Elder may want you to marry grandson."

Naruto felt queasy at the idea, but Ranma was pale as a ghost. "I'm not. . ." she shouted. She got ahold of herself and said more normally. "I'm not marrying a boy!"

"Sisters were boys before Jusenkyo, no?" asked Shaanpuu.

Naruto looked at Ranma, before they both nodded.

"How'd you know?" he asked.

Shaanpuu smirked. "This one not great with Japanese, but even this one know Sisters use 'boy words' even more than tomboys would." She laughed. "Too bad this one did not know when rescue or Shaanpuu give you 'Kiss of Marriage' rather than 'Kiss of Sisterhood.'"

Naruto shuddered. "No offense, Shaanpuu, but I'm too young to get married—especially not by accident."

Ranma nodded energetically.

Shaanpuu laughed. "Too late now anyway. Since you are Sisters of this one, Elders will make you Honorary Hero Women. To Tribe of Hero Women, you are women, even if born male."

"They won't really try to make us do the 'Kiss of Marriage' or 'Kiss of Death,' will they?" asked Ranma. "Killing someone over a fight, is not something I'll do and I'll never marry a man."

"Sisters talk to Great Grandma. There is some freedom in how 'Honorary' you can be."

* * *

After they got back to Shaanpu's hut, Naruto tried to talk to Koron about their status in the Amazon tribe, but the old woman waved it off.

"This issue can wait until my granddaughter is well enough. Since you participated in her rescue, she'll want to have a say as well."

Ranma pulled Naruto aside, "Do you think we ought to warn your sensei about the Amazon kisses?"

Naruto snorted. "I think we'll let him find out on his own. With what my dad said about the Nadeshiko incident, I think he deserves it. It's not like he can't handle himself, if Shaanpuu's mom decides to give the 'Kiss of Marriage.' We probably won't be staying longer than a week, since that's the longest Ero-sennin has ever been able to control himself without peeping on women."

As Ranma had expected, his father got into trouble almost immediately by stealing food.

"He's not much, but he's my father," he told Koron. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't do anything permanent to him."

The Amazons gave him 10 lashes and imprisoned him. Koron told Ranma they would let his father go when they left.

To Ranma's disgust, it was decided that he and Naruto should limit their "boy time" while with the Amazons. He got his revenge in a fashion, however, when Koron insisted that Jiraiya be in his cursed form while he looked at the Amazon's archives on Jusenkyo.

Since Jiraiya was busy making seals and looking through the archives, Ranma was left mainly with his "sisters." Ranma decided that he liked Shaanpuu. She was arrogant, but she was a decent sparring partner. He still won, of course, but he _was_ the best.

He and Shaanpuu both also sparred with Naruto. Naruto had good instincts and lots of stamina, but her form was subpar. Ranma and Shaanpuu both showed her some katas to do to improve her form. In the process, Ranma picked up some Amazon wushu.

Being friends with Shaanpuu brought them into contact with Muusu, who was annoying at best. The boy was obsessed with Shaanpuu and attacked any male that went near her. Ranma and Naruto agreed that the moratorium on "boy time" was worth it just to not deal with the hassle of Muusu, who did not know about their curses.

Ranma did manage to wheedle some clues about how Muusu's Hidden Weapons Techniques worked by offering to put in a good word with his new sister. The bad thing was that Muusu was nearly blind and had a habit of glomping anything he thought was Shaanpuu. He had glasses, but thought that they made him look bad, so he rarely wore them. After being glomped several times, both Ranma and Naruto took to knocking him silly, just like Shaanpuu did.

Shaanpuu was fascinated with their curses and was disappointed when they did not demonstrate for her. She finally got them to use their "boy time" to show her what they really looked like. She made appreciative comments about how she was sad that she had not given them the "Kiss of Marriage." After that, both cursed boys decided to avoid shapeshifting around her.

Shaanpuu wanted them to show her the pool they had fallen in, but both cursed boys refused to go anywhere near Jusenkyo.

"Getting cursed once is bad enough," Ranma told her. "I'm not going to risk combining my curse with another and becoming an even bigger freak."

Naruto agreed emphatically.

* * *

When they had been among the Amazons for five days, Shaanpuu's mother, Jeiru, was well enough to be out of bed. Naruto and Ranma privately thought that they had waited longer than they needed to, in order to spring a "trap" on Jiraiya.

Jiraiya had finished his research, but had not discovered anything other than several ways to lock a person in their cursed form and historical accounts on what happened when a cursed person was exposed to water from a different pool. Sadly, what they had heard from the Guide and the Kyuubi turned out to be true. Sometimes a person was cured by using one of the "normal" pools, but it was rare.

Jiraiya had also made the seals that he had agreed to for the Amazons the previous day. The only reason that they were still there was that Koron had told them that her granddaughter wished to thank them.

The two cursed boys, Shaanpuu, Jiraiya, and Koron were standing in Koron's hut. Jeiru entered. She looked remarkably like an older Shaanpu.

Jeiru smiled at Naruto and Ranma. "You are the two warriors that helped my daughter and were adopted as her sisters?"

Naruto and Ranma nodded.

"In gratitude, I would like to adopt you as my daughters."

Naruto said, "My parents are both died the day I was born, but Ero-senin, here, is my godfather and guardian." He glared at Jiraiya for having to find out from his dead father that that was the case. Jiraiya looked sheepish. "I have obligations to my home village and a woman I consider my grandmother. I would have to place these relationships first. That won't be a problem, will it?"

Ranma said, "Like I told your grandma, my pop isn't much, but he is my pop and I'm not going to leave him. He says my mom is dead, but I don't know if I believe him." Ranma looked sheepish. "If I'm your daughter, I'm not going to have to do anything girly am I?"

Jeiru laughed. "We are the Tribe of Hero Women, a warrior tribe. We consider fighting to be feminine."

"Oh," Ranma said. "That's not too bad."

 _I don't mind if you allow her to adopt you, Naruto_ , said his father, _and I don't believe your mother will either. I don't think it will be a problem as long as they know you need to return to Konoha. Just make sure that you won't be obliged to follow all of their customs, like the "Kisses."_

"Uh, we won't have to do the "Kisses" if we except will we?" asked Ranma. "I don't hold with killing someone just because they beat you in a fight and I'm certainly not going to marry a boy."

"If you accept," said Koron, "you will be Honorary Amazons. We will expect you to help out if we need you and to support any of our tribe that you come across, but we won't expect you to stay here or follow our more exotic customs."

Naruto nodded. "I don't mind helping, as long as your cause is just, but I may have a hard time getting permission to come back here on a moment's notice, since I have obligations as a ninja of Konoha."

Ranma said, "As far as I know, I don't have any obligations like that, but I don't hold with bullies, so I'll help out as long as you aren't picking fights."

"That is acceptable," said Koron.

"I accept then," said Naruto.

"Me too," said Ranma.

Shaanpuu squealed and wrapped them both in a hug.

Geiru approached and kissed Naruto on the forehead, "I adopt you, Naru, as my daughter and an honorary Hero Woman."

She then kissed Ran on the forehead, "I adopt you, Ran, as my daughter and an honorary Hero Woman."

She then turned to Jiraiya. "Now for your reward, Jiraiya the Toad Sage." She walked up to him and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. "You, I love, Husband."

Ranma and smirked and Naruto giggled, which caused him to quickly cover his mouth.

Jiraiya turned to his godson in female guise. "You knew about this, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?"

Naruto smirked. "I only guessed, but I didn't share with you for one reason: Nadeshiko. I heard about what you did to get them to back off."

Jiraiya looked a little sheepish and turned to Jeiru. "Look, I'm flattered, but I'm not a member of your tribe and don't hold to your customs. Plus, I'm too much man for one woman."

"We shall see, Husband," said Jeiru.

Naruto snorted.

Jiraiya frowned at him. "Regardless, we'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Very well, Son-in-law," said Koron.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** In case it's not clear: Shaanpuu = Shampoo, Koron = Cologne, Heirupin = Hairpin, Jeiru = Gel, and Muusu = Mousse.

Cologne is being more conciliatory with Jiraiya than Canon Cologne was with Ranma because Jiraiya is at least as powerful as she is, so she's being more sly. She has full confidence in her granddaughter's capability to seduce Jiraiya with his obvious weakness for women. The same is true for Ranma and Naruto, she thinks that by giving them a reliable parent figure, she'll win them over for her tribe in some way. Whether she succeeds in either of these goals remains to be seen.


	5. Chapter 5: Another Mother

In the morning, Ranma, Naruto, and Jiraiya were waiting at the main gate of the village for Ranma's pop to be delivered. There was a large crowd of Amazons there, including Shaanpuu, Jeiru, and Koron. Ranma idly listened to the Amazons talk. He felt like he could almost understand what they were saying. He concentrated and understanding came. Most of them were talking about various martial contests or the Musk raids.

Finally, he saw his pop, in panda form, brought with his hands bound in cords. An Amazon slit the cords and set him free.

Koron addressed him, "Know this, Panda Man. It is because of your daughter's request that we have let you go so easy. Steal from us again and it will go much rougher for you."

Genma made a point of ignoring what she said.

"Fool," Koron said. She turned to Ranma and Naruto. "You are welcome to return any time you please, young warriors. It was a pleasure to have you here. I'm sure my granddaughter will miss her sisters."

Shaanpuu gave them hugs. "Be safe and be strong, Sisters. This one will see you again."

Jeiru also hugged them. "I'm sad that we could not spend more time together, Daughters, but I'm sure we'll see each other again before too long."

Jeiru turned to Jiraiya. "Don't forget me, Husband."

Jiraiya snorted, but was otherwise silent.

An Amazon in the crowd said in Japanese, "Why do you let your husband go so easily, Jeiru?" She obviously wanted to be understood by Jiraiya.

Jeiru laughed. "The chase is the fun part."

The crowd joined in the laughter.

The Toad Sage started to get nervous. "Let's go," he said.

The four Jusenkyo-cursed visitors took off at a brisk walk.

* * *

After they had walked for 30 minutes, Jiraiya called a halt. He pulled out some warm water from a storage seal and used it on Genma.

"I'd feel better if we put an ocean between us and them," he said to Ranma's dad. "Do you have a place in Japan that we can use as a base."

"Why?" asked Genma.

"Didn't you see the _girls_ interacting with the Amazons? Do you want your _daughter_ to become one? The women we saved adopted them as their _daughter_ and _sister_."

Naruto knew that his sensei was manipulating Ranma's father's prejudices.

"I'm a boy!" shouted Ranma, who predictably shapeshifted into his boy form.

"Boy!" shouted Genma. "How could you let that woman call you her daughter! And that young one was hanging all over you. Girls and women will make you soft and weak!"

"I didn't want to rock the boat, Pop!" Ranma exclaimed. "Plus, by being nice to them, I learned some of their moves!"

" _Girl_ moves," Genma sneered.

A quick taijutsu battle ensued that ended when Ranma managed to smash his father into a tree with a roundhouse kick. Naruto recognized several of Shaanpuu's wushu techniques.

"Say that again, Pop!" Ranma said.

"You got lucky, Boy!" his father retorted.

"Do you have a place in Japan or not?" Jiraiya said irritatedly.

Genma thought. After a moment, "I know a place. I wasn't planning on going there for perhaps another year, but it could do."

* * *

They settled into a routine. In the mornings, Ranma almost always used his "boy time" immediately upon waking up. Naruto started his after breakfast. This allowed Naruto to taunt Ranma while he was still a boy and Ranma was not.

Before breakfast, Ranma usually sparred with his pop. After breakfast Naruto and Ranma sparred as boys. Ranma and his pop split their matches when Ranma was a boy, about half and half. Ranma dominated his matches with Naruto, but the blond boy was getting better. After their spar, Ranma would show Naruto some katas in order to work on his form.

They traveled starting at mid-morning and ate a cold lunch while walking. When they stopped in the evening they sparred again, with the boys as girls. Sometimes with tails and sometimes without. Ranma won slightly more matches as a girl against his father because he was a slightly stronger and faster due to that form being one of his curse's natural forms. With his tails, he rarely lost, unless his father managed to pull off a dirty trick because his strength and speed were much better. Naruto had to be badgered to practice with his tails out, but Ranma could usually get him to do it when he wanted to. After that, Ranma gave Naruto advice on how to adapt the katas to his girl bodies.

Naruto tried to get Genma to teach him, but the man only said, "The boy needs to practice teaching."

After that they ate dinner. Jiraiya would mentor Ranma on meditation and connecting to his chakra. He also had Ranma practice hand seals, so that he would be ready once he could access his chakra. Naruto joined in the hand seal practice, since Jiraiya said he needed to get faster with them.

Some nights Ranma would try and talk Naruto into going hunting in one of their fox forms. Naruto resisted, but could usually be talked into doing it. He could admit, to himself that he had fun, but he still hated the thought of being a fox.

Surprisingly, Jiraiya spent a lot of their non-travel time in his cursed form—including sleep. When Naruto asked him why, he said, "I found out in the Amazon archives that the curse has a water-magnet component that happens if you don't spend at least half your time in your cursed form. I'd rather not have any embarrassing changes, so I'm managing my time in my cursed form."

Jiraiya had managed to make a seal that swapped his clothes when he changed. This was a relief to everyone. Naruto did not need it because of his cursed form's magic. Genma's panda form was pretty close in size to his natural form and he was too proud to ask for help.

* * *

After they had been traveling for a week, Ranma awoke one night inside the seal-scape. He quickly turned himself into his "real" self. He wondered if this counted toward the next day's "boy time." He saw Naruto on the yellow side of the seal and Minato in the center.

He walked toward Minato when he saw Naruto heading there as well. Naruto was shapeshifted into a boy too.

"Hi, Dad. Hi, _Sis_ ," Naruto said.

Ranma scowled. "Do I look like a girl to you?"

Naruto grinned widely. "Yes."

"At least I don't fight like one," Ranma taunted.

"Boys!" said Minato. "I didn't call you here to fight."

"You summoned us here, Dad?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I've figured out how to do it while you're asleep." He paused and said, "I'm happy to talk to you, Son, but I mainly called you two here to ask Ranma something."

"What's that, Minato?" Ranma asked.

"I think I've figured out how to stabilize and replenish my wife's chakra 'ghost.'"

"That's great, Dad!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I'm happy too, Son," Minato smiled. "What I wanted to ask Ranma, is if he wanted me to bind her chakra ghost to the seal-scape so that he could talk to her too. If not, I'll bind her to Naruto's mindscape."

"What would I have to do?" Ranma asked. "Would there be any side effects?"

"You would need to provide a small, continuous amount of chakra. Other than that, her chakra construct should be like mine."

"Would that delay when I could deactivate my curse?" Ranma asked.

Minato shook his head. "I don't think so. In the short term, it will slightly decrease your chakra pool, but having a manageable drain on your chakra should increase your chakra production in the long run, like exercising your physical body."

"I thought I wasn't making chakra yet," Ranma said.

"No, you are. What you haven't done yet is develop chakra coils. Your body is continually producing chakra—you actually produce a fair amount. However, without chakra coils to store your chakra, you can't use most ninjutsu or genjutsu due to not having enough available. You can still use chakra to enhance your speed or strength or use some low-powered techniques."

"Oh," Ranma said. "Do you think she would like me and want to be here instead of just with you and Naruto?"

"I know she would like you, Ranma," Minato said with a smile. "She and I wanted a large family, but, unfortunately, we died having our first. I know she would appreciate it if you allowed her to be a surrogate mother, of sorts."

"I might like that," Ranma said. "I don't remember my real mom. I'd like to meet her first before agreeing to any type of relationship, but I'll supply the chakra."

"Great!" Minato said. "I'll do the preparations and tomorrow night we can do this."

"All right!" Naruto yelled. "I can't wait to meet Mom."

Ranma smiled at his "sister's" excitement. He wondered if his pop was telling the truth about his mother. While his father was in jail with the Amazons, Ranma had looked through his pack. The only thing interesting he'd found was an address in Nerima for someone named "Tendo."

* * *

The next night after Naruto had fallen asleep, he again awoke in the seal-scape he shared with Ranma. He saw Ranma on the red side of the seal. In the center, his father was working on a large black seal. He and Ranma both headed toward his father. As was his custom, Ranma quickly became male. Naruto did so too.

"Good evening, Son, Ranma," said his father. "I'm almost done getting ready."

A few minutes later Minato said, "All right. I've set this up to automatically draw out chakra since Ranma doesn't know how to channel his yet. What I need you to do is for both of you to put your hands on the kanji for 'life.' You can sit down or kneel down by the kanji. Naruto, I want you to use the one on the right. When you're both ready, Naruto, you start channeling chakra into your kanji. The seal will self-regulate, so neither of you need to worry about how much it pulls. There will be a surge at first, but it will lessen quickly. When the seal turns red and shrinks, you'll be done, but please don't remove your hands until I say."

Naruto quickly sat down by his spot and placed his hand on the appropriate character. Ranma did the same.

"Ready?" Naruto asked.

"Yep," Ranma answered.

Naruto channeled chakra into the character. He felt a surge as chakra was pulled out of him. The amount quickly began to lessen. As it did a figure appeared in the center of the seal. The seal turned red and shrank until it settled at the figure's feat. Naruto still felt a very small draw on his chakra, but it was so small he figured he would not notice it before too long.

The figure was of a woman in her twenties. She had straight red hair down to her mid back. She was dressed in a loose, sleeveless green dress over a short-sleeved white blouse. She looked very similar to both Naruto and Ranma's cursed forms, but the red hair made her look more like Ranma at first glance.

"Ah ha," said Ranma. "So that's chakra. I think I can find it again in the waking world."

"Cool," said Naruto, but he was really focused on the woman who was his mother.

"Okay, boys," said his dad. "That's good enough."

"Minato? Naruto?" said his mom.

"Kushina," Minato said fondly.

"Mom!" Naruto exclaimed.

His mom held out her arms and Naruto ran into them. She encircled him in them and then his dad joined the hug.

"I missed you guys so much," she said.

* * *

Ranma watched Naruto's mom and dad hug him. He was an independent guy and liked to think he did not need the mushy stuff, but a part of him was jealous. He again wondered if his own mom was really dead. Even though Jeiru had supposedly adopted him, he barely knew her and she had not been very motherly.

Kushina looked at him from where she was hugging Naruto and being hugged by Minato. "Ranma, come here."

Ranma approached a little apprehensively. He was amazed at how similar she looked to his girl body.

"Since you are my son's sibling in everything except birth, I would like to offer you the chance to call me 'Mom' since it seems your own mother is dead."

"That Amazon, Jeiru, wants to be my mom, too," he said.

"I don't have a problem sharing the "mom duties" with her, as long as she treats you right. Plus, I can't interact with the outside world, but I'm always with you."

"The same goes for me, Ranma," said Minato. "Feel free to call me 'Dad.'"

"I still have Pop, Minato," Ranma said.

"I'm not trying to replace your pop, Ranma, but you are my son's sibling. Think of me as a second father or a step-dad. You have to admit that your pop isn't very fatherly. It might help you to have a second opinion on 'manly' things."

Ranma snorted. His pop only taught him about the Art. Ranma knew he should know more than the Art, but whenever he had tried his father told him that a Martial Artist only needed the Art. Ranma loved the Art and appreciated his father for teaching it to him—most of the time—but he did not want to be just like his pop. He hated how his father preached honor, but did not actually live it. While he had been more or less just going along with the Amazons—since he did not expect to see them much, if ever, as far as he knew, Minato and Kushina would always be with him.

Ranma joined the others in their hug. "Okay, Mom, Dad. I'll give it a try, at least."

Naruto smiled big. "Alright, Sis!"

Ranma bopped his "sister" on the head. "You're going to play the part of the annoying little sibling, aren't you?"

"Hey, just because I'm short doesn't mean I'm younger than you," said Naruto.

* * *

An evil laugh came from the cage where the Kyuubi was. "Well, well, well. I had thought I had seen the last of you, former captor."

Naruto walked up to the gate. The others followed him.

"Hey, I'm got a question for you!" he said. "Why did you give us a hint that helped us stop your escape?"

"I've been wondering about that too," said Minato, "but it has never answered me when I'm here by myself."

"I don't have to explain myself to you, little vixen," said the giant fox, "but I will if you cut a deal with me."

"What kind of deal?" Naruto said suspiciously.

"I want the same type of deal your parent's ghosts have, little vixen," said the Kyuubi. "I want to be able to see the outside world and occasionally talk to you. As an added bonus, I'll let you and the little redhead have access to a portion of my power without a fight."

"What do you think, Mom? Dad?" said Naruto.

"It sounds okay," said Minato, "With us here to keep it honest, that could be a benefit."

"You would still have to be careful though," said Kushina. "The Kyuubi's power is dangerous to wield because it is so overwhelming. If you use too much, you can lose yourself in it."

"Can you alter the seal to accomplish this, _Yondaime_?" The Kyuubi sneered Naruto's father's title.

"Yes, it won't be difficult," said Minato.

"Do you agree to the deal?" asked the Kyuubi. "Information and power from me in exchange for viewing the world through the little vixens' eyes and the chance to talk to them outside of the seal-scape."

Minato nodded.

"I agree," said Naruto.

"I agree," said Ranma.

"I can alter the seal by myself after the kids go to sleep for real," said Minato. "How about you explain why you did not try harder for your freedom as a show of good faith?"

"Very well, Yondaime," said the Bijuu. "The truth is that there is nothing but being hunted or hiding in the outside world. I have no true freedom, only the illusion of it, if I escape. With Madara's heir hunting the Bijuu, the best I can hope for is slavery."

"Why did you try and escape when Naruto was born then?" asked Kushina.

"You kept me chained to a slab and impaled with spikes, former jailer," hissed the Kyuubi. "Even slavery is better than that."

Kushina looked embarrassed. "I only did what Great-Aunt Mito taught me. I didn't know any other way."

"And you paid the price for your ignorance," sneered the Giant Fox. "My current arrangement is sufficient for me, especially if I get to see my hosts make fools of themselves. I get the feeling that both of them will be quite entertaining."

The Fox withdrew deeper into its cage. "I've explained myself. Be gone."

As they walked away from the gate, Naruto said, "Do you think it told the truth, Mom?"

"To be honest, I never interacted much with it when it was inside me," said his mother, "but the explanation was reasonable. I would be careful with how much of its power you draw—it may be possible for it to possess you if you draw too much."

She stopped and said, "Before two you go to sleep for real, can I see you in your other forms?"

Naruto agreed quickly while Ranma grumbled about it.

As the two stood as girls before Naruto's mother, she stared at Ranma and touched her hair. "Wow, you look like you could be my little daughter or, more likely, my little sister. The hair makes it even more obvious than with Naruto."

Kushina looked the age she was when she died and Ranma and Naruto's girl forms looked older than they were, so they didn't look that far apart in age.

"There are some features in both of you that come from Ranma's normal form and me, but the similarity is uncanny," said Minato.

"Do you know where your red hair comes from?" asked Kushina. "It's odd that you have my hair and Naruto doesn't."

Ranma shook her head. "I don't know what my mother looked like. Pop had dark hair like most Japanese before he went bald."

When Kushina saw their foxgirl forms, she squealed. "Cute! Can I touch your tails?"

When they nodded dumbly, she stroked first Naruto's and then Ranma's.

"I would think you of all people would be wary of foxes, Mom," said Naruto.

Kushina shrugged. "Not many knew I was the jinchuuriki, so I never got any grief for it. Plus, you don't really look like the Kyuubi, your ears are completely different and the Kyuubi's tails are _not_ fluffy."

Ranma grimaced at the description.

After they showed them the two fox forms, Kushina said, "Not even your giant fox form looks much like the Kyuubi—it's only vaguely fox-like."

"Well that's some consolation, but I don't think that the people of Konoha will see it that way," said Naruto who was back in his boy form.

Kushina cupped his chin in her hand and lifted it gently, "Chin up, Son. Worry only about the things you can change and think of the things that are good in your life. If you worry about what's wrong in your life, nothing will change and you only make your life dreary."

"You're right, Mom!" he said with a big smile as he hugged her.

"You too, Ranma," she said. "Don't worry so much about being a girl. Roll with the punches, eh?"

"I don't have to like it though," he replied.

"You don't but, you have two choices: make the best of it or make yourself unhappy."

Ranma smiled, "You're pretty good at this mom stuff, for not having really had the chance to be one before."

Kushina's eyes glistened for a second, but then she smiled. "You're right, but I was a sensei for a group of three young ninjas. That's almost like being a parent."

"Really?" asked Naruto. "Do I know them?"

Kushina sighed. "No, they didn't survive the war—like too many. As you know, only one of your father's students survived. But that's all over. Hopefully, you won't have to deal with anything like that."

They talked about happier things for a short while before the boys went to sleep for real.


	6. Chapter 6: Meet the Tendous

**Author's Note:** I've decided to change Ranma's age from 14 to 15 because I didn't want them to end up at a different school than Kunou. Naruto is still 14.

* * *

As Ranma had thought, he managed to find his chakra the next evening. Jiraiya had him start practicing gathering it and holding it in his center.

They traveled for another two weeks to get to Hong Kong where they swam across Shenzen Bay to reach the Special Administrative Region without going through a checkpoint. Ranma and Naruto periodically met Naruto's parents in the seal-scape every few days. Mostly they exchanged stories. Ranma was not quite sure why his stories always got the others mad at his pop. He was fascinated by stories of what could be accomplished with ninjutsu.

In Hong Kong, the Nadeshiko kunoichi finally caught up with them.

"You promised that one of your students would marry me, Toad Sage," said a dark-haired woman.

Jiraiya chuckled nervously, but gestured to Naruto and Ranma. "As you can see, my students are women."

Ranma's father looked like he was going to say something, but stayed silent.

"You had a blonde boy with you when you were seen peeping on the International Kunoichi Association," said the young woman.

"That was me," said Naruto. "I just looked like a boy at the time."

"What? Is that true, Sakura?" she asked one of her companions.

"It could be," Sakura answered. "She looks very similar to how the boy did."

"Why did you disguise yourself?" the first woman asked. "Are you ashamed of being a woman?"

"No," Naruto said, "I was ashamed of being seen with Jiraiya, a known pervert, at a Hot Springs. I didn't want to ruin my reputation."

Jiraiya looked indignant. "I'm not a pervert! I'm a _super_ pervert!"

"See what I mean?" Naruto said.

"I do. The bald man is not your student, Toad Sage?" she asked, looking at Genma.

"No," said Jiraiya. "He is the guardian of my redheaded student who has just been united with her sister after a long time apart."

The woman looked relieved. "I'm going to insist that both of you prove you are women," she said to Ranma and Naruto.

The woman, Shizuka, insisted that Ranma and Naruto, accompany her and her companions to the public baths. They tried to resist, but got dragged along. When asked why they did not want to, they passed it off as Jiraiya's fault. Luckily they were both used to being girls enough that they did not embarrass themselves too much. Naruto did elbow Ranma in the ribs every time it looked like he was going to proclaim his gender.

The Nadeshiko women headed back to the Elemental Nations after admonishing Jiraiya to select a male student so that he could honor his obligation to their village.

In Hong Kong, they snuck on board a boat going to Tokyo. Luckily modern cargo boats did not have many crew, so they were able to stay hidden.

The voyage took longer than they wanted it to, but near the end of it, Jiraiya judged that Ranma could hold his chakra well enough. After that Jiraiya had him draw his chakra to his various limbs and body parts. He told Ranma that the next step would be to circulate his chakra through the various parts of his body after he could hold it in one spot for several minutes. The circulating was what would actually stimulate his chakra coils to form and grow.

* * *

The day was rainy as they walked through the Nerima Ward of Tokyo toward the Furinkan District. Jiraiya was using an umbrella to ward off his curse, but Genma was exposed to the elements and had become a panda. Ranma was already using his "boy time" to his father's annoyance.

 **Boy, I told you to save** *flip* **your boy time for the Tendous** , the panda's sign read.

"Why bother?" said Ranma. "If we stay there for more than a day, they'd find out."

 **I want you to make** *flip* **a good first impression** , the next sign said.

"First impression for what?" Ranma said suspiciously.

 **Obey your father, Boy!**

Ranma ignored the signs that followed. There was not a lot his pop could do. It was not like he could force him to read them. Sure enough, both cursed boys' "boy time" ran out before they arrived.

A sign by the gate said, **Tendou Dojo of Anything Goes Martial Arts. To challenge the owner to savage combat, use the rear entrance.**

 **Knock on the door, Boy** , Ranma's father commanded.

Ranma shrugged and did so.

A short-haired girl, slightly older than Ranma answered the door.

A mature, male voice could be heard from inside, "Is it them, Nabiki?"

"I don't think so," she said. "There are two young women, an old man in a funny outfit, and a panda at the door."

A man with longish hair and a mustache appeared beside the girl. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm Saotome Ranma," Ranma started to say when he was interrupted by the girl, Nabiki, poking his chest. A canine-like growl emerged from his throat.

The girl stopped, shocked.

"Please don't do that," he said.

"Daddy," said the girl, "why is our so-called fiancé a girl? She's older than you said, too—although I can't pinpoint her age."

"I assumed that Saotome's son was a boy," he responded, nonplussed. He sat down hard in the entry.

Two girls, both with long hair tied with bows appeared in the entry. The younger one was wearing a yellow gi. She smiled at Naruto and Ranma.

"I'm Akane. Want to be friends? How about we go around back to the dojo while the adults sort this out."

"Sounds great to me," said Naruto with a smile. "I'm Naruto."

Ranma had been in shock since he had heard the word "fiancé." He numbly followed the other two around to the back.

"Daddy said you were into martial arts, Ranma. Is that true?" Akane asked.

"Yep," he answered. "I'm the heir to my family school."

"Me too," said Akane with a smile. "I'm glad to meet another girl that's into martial arts."

He was feeling too numb to contradict her.

"Are you sisters?" she asked. "You look like identical twins other than the hair. Daddy said a boy was coming, not two girls."

Naruto looked at Ranma, who still was shell-shocked before saying, "Yes."

"Would one of you like to spar?" Akane asked.

"Ranma can do it," said Naruto. "She's much better than me."

"Ranma?" Akane prompted.

Ranma shook his head and said, "Spar? Sure."

"If you're too distracted by something, I can spar with Naruto," Akane said.

"No, I'm good," said Ranma. He deposited his pack at the edge of the room and got into a loose stance.

"I'll go easy on you," said Akane.

The boast elicited Ranma's trademarked annoying smirk.

"Here I come," said Akane as she charged forward.

Ranma easily dodged the blows that Akane launched at him. He could tell that she had potential, but she telegraphed her blows and her footwork was mediocre. Her form was better than Naruto's, but Ranma could tell she had only ever had intermediate training, and he thought it had been several years since then.

He tapped her when the holes in her form were egregious. Ranma leaped over her and lightly slapped the back of her neck.

"Why weren't you taking me seriously?" griped Akane.

"What do you mean?" asked Ranma.

"You were barely touching me," she said. "I can take a hit."

He thought about saying he didn't fight girls, but didn't want Kushina to yell at him in his head. She was loud and once she got started, she didn't stop for a while.

"Oh," he said. "I thought this was just a friendly spar. I don't know you well enough to go all out."

"Ah, that's fine then," she replied with a brilliant smile. "Next time. I'm not going to get good, if I don't have real matches. You're very good."

"I'm the best," he said proudly.

Naruto snorted. "You are pretty good, Sis, but I've seen better."

Ranma frowned.

"Remind me to introduce you to Rock Lee or Hyuuga Neji," she continued.

"Hmmph, I bet I can beat them," Ranma said.

"I'm glad you're a girl," said Akane.

"Why?" asked Ranma nervously.

"Well, for one, I'm too young to worry about getting engaged. For the other, all the boys I know are obnoxious perverts. I have one stalker in particular that makes me nervous."

Ranma and Naruto both frowned. "Has he done anything to you?" Naruto asked.

"Not yet, but I think the pervert has something planned."

After that, Akane and Naruto sparred. Their match was much closer, but Naruto's good instincts gave her a slight edge. She won on two out of three points.

* * *

"You're pretty good too," Akane told Naruto.

"Thanks," he said. "Ranma's been teaching me martial arts."

"Do you think you could teach me too, Ranma?" asked Akane.

"I don't see why not," Ranma replied. "For as long as we're here. I've enjoyed teaching Naruto."

"Why are you teaching her?" Akane asked. "Didn't you learn together?"

"We grew up apart," said Naruto.

"Ah, that's sad," said Akane. "Do you mind me asking why?"

Naruto looked at Ranma and then said, "If we stay for more than a day or two, you'll probably find out, but it's kind of embarrassing."

Akane looked confused, but relented.

"Do you guys want to get cleaned up?" Akane asked. "We have a nice-sized furo inside."

"That sounds nice," said Naruto.

Akane led them inside and then upstairs. She left them in the furo's entry. Naruto had bathed with Ranma before and they looked almost identical, so they got ready for their bath. They entered the furo room, soaped up, rinsed off, and entered the furo to relax a little.

Before long, they heard the door open and in walked a naked Akane. Ranma started spluttering and turned her head. Naruto kept his head down.

"Err, we aren't used to bathing in public and we're kind of shy," said Naruto, embarrassed. "Do you mind waiting a moment so we can get out."

"Oh," said Akane, now also embarrassed, "I bathe with my friends sometimes. . ."

"It's our fault," said Naruto. "We should have warned you."

Akane withdrew and Naruto and Ranma quickly got out and dried off. They wrapped themselves in some towels that were on hooks and left the furo room. In the entry Akane had wrapped herself in a robe. She quickly entered the furo room. Naruto and Ranma silently got dressed in clean clothes.

Downstairs, they found everyone other than Akane. Ranma's father was human again.

"Where's Akane?" asked the Tendou patriarch.

"She's in the furo," said Naruto.

"Could you tell her to hurry, Kasumi?" Mr. Tendou asked.

"Yes, Father," said the oldest daughter as she went upstairs.

About five minutes later, the two Tendou girls came back down. Akane, Ranma, and Naruto, all had trouble meeting each other's eyes.

"Who's this other man, Dad?" asked Akane. Naruto thought she was desperate to take her mind off the embarrassing situation from before.

"This is my good friend Saotome Genma," said her father. "He was my old training partner. We made a promise to each other than our children would marry after Ranma was born."

"Why would you do that?" Akane asked, confused.

"To join the Schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" her father said.

"But Ranma's a girl!" Akane said.

"I assume that Ranma has a similar condition to _her_ father?" Nabiki said.

"Condition?" Akane asked.

Nabiki walked into the kitchen and came out with a cup. She threw the contents at Ranma, who just smirked as it hit her and nothing happened. Nabiki frowned and looked at her father, who looked at Genma.

Genma coughed embarrassedly and said, "The boy has a temporary condition where he can't change back for longer than three hours a day. He already used his time up for today. It should be fixed within a year. The other boy can demonstrate, though."

Naruto sighed. "I'll do it myself, thank you very much."

He followed Kasumi into the kitchen and filled a cup with water from a kettle. He touched his side to deactivate the curse-locking seal and walked back into the living room. He stuck his hand into the cup and changed.

Akane shrieked. "You saw me naked! You're both really boys!?"

"You walked in on us," Ranma said irritadely.

"I didn't know you were boys!"

"It's not like you don't have anything we haven't seen before," Ranma replied.

"You should have told me!" Akane shouted.

"I didn't know how long we'd be here and the curse is embarrassing!" Ranma shouted back. "Besides, I have a better figure, anyway!"

The room went deathly quiet and then Akane gave a wordless shriek, picked up the center table, and bashed Ranma with it.

"She had that coming," Nabiki said.

 _Yes, he did_ , said Naruto's mom.

* * *

It took Ranma several minutes to recover. He glared at Akane, who glared back.

"So Ranma will be able to change back soon?" Mr. Tendou asked.

"In maybe three to six months," said Jiraiya. "She's making good progress with the technique that will allow her to do so."

"Why can everyone else change back, but she can't?" asked Nabiki.

"Naruto and Ranma's change has a special complication," said Jiraiya. "Naruto already had the training necessary to allow it. I'm teaching Ranma to do it now."

"Who are you?" asked Akane.

"I'm Naruto's guardian, Jiraiya."

"So they aren't really sisters?" Akane asked irritatedly.

"They fell into the same pool and changed into near-identical girls, so I'd say they are sisters, but they aren't really brothers when they're both male," Jiraiya explained.

"Pool?" Akane asked.

Jusenkyo was explained. The explanation included much recrimination on the part of Ranma toward his father and an impromptu fight which ended with Genma flying out the door and into a fish pond.

"Do you have a curse too, Mr. Jiraiya?" asked Kasumi.

Naruto and Ranma started snickering.

"Err, yes. . ." Jiraiya mumbled.

"Ero-sennin turns into a shrunken, old crone," Naruto said.

"Ero-sennin?" Nabiki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I asked you not to call me that, Brat," said Jiraiya.

"He's a massive pervert," Naruto explained.

The three Tendou sisters frowned at Jiraiya.

"Err, he doesn't steal panties, does he?" Mr. Tendou nervously asked Genma.

 **Thankfully, no** , read Genma's sign.

"He just peeps and writes trashy novels," Naruto said.

"There'll be none of that in this house," Mr. Tendou said gravely.

"Of course," Jiraiya said irritatedly.

"Well, Ranma, your problem isn't too bad, if it's temporary," said Mr. Tendou. "My daughters: Akane, age 15, Nabiki, age 16, and Kasumi, age 18. Pick the one you want and she'll be your fiancée."

"Oh, she wants Akane," said Kasumi.

"They're perfect for each other, since Akane hates boys anyway," said Nabiki.

Akane fumed. "I'm not marrying her."

"The Schools must be joined," said Mr. Tendou.

"I'm too young to get married," said Ranma. "I'm only 15. Isn't that too young?"

"Actually," said Nabiki, "you can get married at 15. . ."

"See!" said Mr. Tendou.

". . .as a woman," Nabiki finished.

"I'm not getting married as a girl!" Ranma shouted.

"A man needs to be 17 with parental permission," Nabiki said. "Although I've heard that the Diet is planning on raising it at least a year soon."

Ranma looked visibly relieved. "Look," she said, "Mr. Tendou said I could choose, right?"

Nabiki and Kasumi looked worried while Akane looked hopeful. Mr. Tendou looked anxious, but nodded.

"I'm going to defer my choice at least until I can deactivate my curse or I turn 16, whichever comes later. There's no point in choosing now. Besides, it would be better for me to get to know your daughters better before choosing."

"But the schools!" Mr. Tendou whined.

 **Boy, if you don't choose** *flip* **I'll choose for you!** his father's sign read.

"Why is it important to me to choose now?" Ranma demanded. "Don't you want your daughters to be happy, Mr. Tendou? Are you going back on your word?"

Mr. Tendou wilted under the glares of the females in the room. "Err, okay. Ranma can choose when he turns 16 or deactivates his curse. If he fails to choose then, his father and I well select one of my daughters."

Ranma sighed, but nodded.

"You should show them your real curse, _girls_ ," said Jiraiya with a smirk.

"Real curse?" asked Nabiki with an arched eyebrow.

"They didn't fall into a _girl_ pool, they fell into a _foxgirl_ pool," said Jiraiya.

Ranma sighed and Naruto glared at Jiraiya. Reluctantly, they both shifted to show their tails.

"Cute!" the Tendou girls all squealed as they tackled the two foxgirls.


	7. Chapter 7: Furinkan High

After the Tendou girls relented in their tail petting, Naruto changed back. Ranma stayed as she was until she got nervous due to Kasumi eying her tails. In the meantime, Genma had managed to procure some hot water and changed back.

"So," Nabiki spoke up loudly, "what are your plans?"

"Ranma must stay and get to know his potential fiancées," said Mr. Tendou.

"True, true," agreed Mr. Saotome. "Jiraiya and the other one need to stay too—long enough to teach the boy enough control to change back, anyway."

"We can't accommodate four guests," stated Nabiki.

Her father looked upset. "Nabiki. . ." he warned.

"If you want to complain about my concerns, get a more consistent income," Nabiki snapped.

"Or we could raid your snack food fund," Akane muttered.

Nabiki stared at Akane, daring her to say more, while Mr. Tendou complained tearfully about Nabiki's lack of respect for her father.

"Don't worry, Ero-sennin will pay you a guest fee," Naruto offered. "He's loaded, even if he is a cheapskate." Naruto was still steamed about all the times the pervert had raided his wallet.

Jiraiya frowned. "Naruto, there's not an exchange rate between ryou and yen. It doesn't matter how rich I am or not back home."

"Ryou?" asked Nabiki, interested. "The old gold coin?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Naruto and I come from a large hidden, island to the east. The currency there is called the ryou. Based on my observations, a ryou is worth about 10 yen, but there's no way to exchange them."

"There's no island straight east of Japan until you get to North America," said Akane.

Nabiki grumbled to herself in disgust about worthless money.

Jiraiya smirked. "There's more to this world than you know about, Kid. You're the one potentially engaged to a foxgirl."

"I'm not really a foxgirl!" Ranma insisted.

"You're always saying how great your books are," Naruto said. "How about you go see if you can get them published here?"

"Not a bad idea, Brat," he said. "I'm sure they could use more great literature in Japan."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Or it could show that there are perverts everywhere."

Jiraiya said. "Well, if I do sell some of my books, I could make a donation to the cause."

Nabiki's eyes brightened. As she opened her mouth to speak, Jiraiya interrupted her. "I'll talk to your father about it, Young Lady. Alone."

Nabiki glared at him coldly.

"Are Ranma and Naruto going to be attending school?" asked Kasumi.

"Pop doesn't think. . ." Ranma started to say.

Genma interrupted him. "Of course the boy will be going to school. Just make sure he's in one of your classes."

"What grade are you in?" asked Nabiki.

"Uh. . . I went to a year of middle school about a year ago," said Ranma. "I think it was second year."

"So, by age you'd be a first year in high school, but your schooling has been spotty," Nabiki said. "You're lucky that Furinkan High is desperate for students. They tend to waive the entrance exam, if you ask nicely. School's only been in session a week, so your luck is good there, too."

Kasumi looked inquiringly at Naruto.

"I've already finished school where I come from," said Naruto.

"I'd like you to attend too, Naruto," said Jiraiya. "It will give you something to do."

"I have something to do," yelled Naruto. "It's called getting trained by _you_ , _Sensei_."

"Oh?" said Kasumi politely. "What is it you're training to do?"

"Martial Arts," said Jiraiya quickly.

Nabiki looked at him suspiciously. "What school?" she asked.

"The Toad School," Jiraiya answered.

"Never heard of it," she said.

"It's very exclusive."

"Yet you're teaching Ranma," she countered.

"No, I'm only teaching Ranma a specialized form of ki control so that she can safely deactivate her curse."

Jiraiya spoke to Naruto. "I'm going to need to head back to the Elemental Nations for a few weeks soon. You should be able to supervise Ranma's ki control exercises while I'm gone while she continues to teach you taijutsu. We'll discuss it more later."

"I can set you both up at our school in Akane's class for a nominal fee," said Nabiki slyly.

"How much?" asked Jiraiya.

"30,000 yen, each."

"20,000," countered Jiraiya.

Nabiki shook her head. "You'll pay my price because you don't know how to go about doing it yourself."

"Fine," said Jiraiya, frowning, "but don't expect me to do this often." He pulled out some bills.

"Oh, we'll see about that."

"No, I mean this is near the end of how much yen I have available," said Jiraiya.

"Better hope you're as good an author as you think."

Nabiki held out her palm to Genma.

"Boy, pay her," he told Ranma.

"No," answered Ranma. "You want me to go to school, you pay."

"Boy. . ." he started to yell. Then he noticed that everyone was staring at him in disgust—including Mr. Tendou. Finally, he said, "I'll pay you later."

"There's a 5,000-yen convenience fee for putting off paying. . . per day," Nabiki said.

Grumbling, he also pulled out some bills.

"What school did you attend before?" she asked Ranma.

"The all-boys one at the north end of the ward," the redhead answered.

"I know the one," she said. "That would normally be hard to explain with your appearance, but I honestly don't think the Furinkan administration will care."

"Do you want to be listed as a boy too?" she asked Naruto.

"Sure," he said with a foxy grin.

"Same birthdate as Ranma?" she asked.

"That'd be fine," he answered. "I never celebrate mine."

"Why not?" Kasumi asked.

Naruto looked down at the floor. "Both my parents died the day I was born along with a bunch of other people. It's never been a happy day to me."

"That's so sad," she said. "We'll make sure to celebrate Ranma's for both of you. When is it?" she asked Ranma.

"Oh," said Ranma, startled. "December 7, but I've never celebrated mine much either."

"Why not?" asked Naruto curiously.

Ranma snorted. "Always been on the road—plus Pop is too cheap."

Genma tried to ignore the glares from the Tendou girls.

Naruto tapped his chin. "Huh. I guess you're 10 months older than me, _Neechan_." [ _older sister_ ( _close, informal_ )].

"I guess so, _imouto_ ," [ _younger sister_ ] she replied.

"Not anymore," Nabiki smirked. "Now you're 10 minutes younger, since you're twins according to what will be on Furinkan's records."

She looked at Naruto. "You want to be a Saotome?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, put me down as an Uzumaki. If they ask we'll say we were adopted separately. Put down Jiraiya as my guardian."

"What's your family name, Jiraiya?" she asked.

"Don't have one; not everyone does in the Elemental Nation," he said. "If you need to put something down, put Gamasennin." [ _Toad Sage_ ]

She shrugged. "No family name means that you're clanless in Japan. That has a huge social stigma here. I'd recommend using something."

Jiraiya nodded. "Use Gamasennin."

"You two look a little older than 15," Nabiki commented. "I can't really put an age to you though. You could be anywhere from a mature 16 to a young 21. Can you change your apparent age?"

"Don't know," said Ranma. "Got a mirror?"

"You can use the one in my room," said Kasumi.

The two cursed boys and the three natural girls went upstairs to Kasumi's room.

Ranma tried first. With a little experimentation, she shrank a couple of centimeters and her bust size decreased significantly and her hips a little.

Naruto overshot his first attempt and ended up looking like a five-year-old girl. On the second try he ended up looking like Ranma's twin again.

"This is pretty cool," said Ranma. "Getting rid of those things on my chest makes moving around more comfortable. I hate to lose the height and reach though."

"Can you go the other way?" Akane asked.

Ranma aged herself to about 30. Her height did not increase above the default, but her figure was fuller and her complexion not as youthful.

Naruto aged himself to 50. He looked in the mirror and saw wrinkles near his eyes and mouth. His skin definitely looked older and his arms chest felt a little saggy. He quickly changed back to default.

"Eww, no wonder Baachan hides her age," he mumbled. Ranma and Nabiki looked at him funny, but he didn't explain himself.

"I think you both looked distinguished as older ladies," said Kasumi.

"I know you mean well, Kasumi," Naruto said, "but I don't think I'll be doing that regularly.

"I don't think there's enough time to get uniforms for tomorrow," Kasumi commented.

"What do the uniforms look like?" Ranma asked suspiciously.

Akane led them to her room and pulled out a hanger with a blue dress and jacket combo on it. "It goes with a white collared blouse too."

"No way," said Ranma. "I'm not wearing a dress."

"The male uniform is a darker blue pants and jacket combo with a white shirt," Akane said.

Ranma shrugged. "I'm not much for uniforms. I'll just wear what I have on now." She gestured to her red silk shirt and black kung-fu-style pants.

"Since it's Furnikan, you might get away with it," Akane said hesitantly, "but if you have a color shirt that didn't clash with your hair, that would be better." Then she looked at Naruto. "You on the other hand. If you want to talk to me at all at school, you have to ditch that hideous, orange jumpsuit."

"What's wrong with the jumpsuit?" Naruto asked. "Why does everyone hate it?"

"If everyone hates it, that should tell you something," Nabiki commented.

Naruto smirked. "Hey, sisters share clothes, don't they?"

* * *

Kasumi decided that the "twins" would get the guest room while Genma and Jiraiya would get the attic. The mention of the attic made Genma and Mr. Tendou (whose given name was Soun) nervous. When asked about their nervousness, they evaded the questions.

Right before bed, Jiraiya drew Naruto into the back yard for a private conversation.

"I know this training trip isn't going how you thought it would, but I need you to take a mission from me."

"Mission?" Naruto asked.

"It's important that you become close to Ranma," Jiraiya said. "We need to make sure she isn't unstable or sympathetic to Konoha's enemies. I don't think either of those is an issue, but we can't take a risk of her setting the Kyuubi free or giving it to Akatsuki. [ _Dawn_ ( _criminal organization set on capturing the Bijuu_ )] If for some reason she did set the Kyuubi loose, I don't know what it would do to you. Most of the time when a jinchuuriki loses their bijuu, they die."

"Ranma wouldn't do that," Naruto protested. "She's way more honorable than her father. I would be her friend anyway, even without a mission from you. I already think of her as a sister or sometimes a brother. I've always wanted a sibling."

"I'm glad that you get a chance to have a friend this close, Brat," said Jiraiya. "She's way better for you than that Sasuke head case, but we need to make sure."

Naruto glared at him for disparaging his estranged friend.

"Plus," Jiraiya continued, "she's been teaching you taijutsu way better than I could—other than a special type, the Frog Kumite, that's really only effective in Sage Mode."

"Sage Mode?" Naruto asked. "I remember you saying something about that to the Amazon Elder."

"You aren't ready for it yet. Maybe in five or six years. Three at the minimum. When you are, the Toads and I will teach you.

"Anyway, that's why I want you to stay. I'll probably stick around for the rest of the week, and then head back to the Elemental Nations for three or four weeks to check on my network and then I'll come back here."

"I thought you said your network ran itself?" he asked.

"It does for the most part," the older man admitted, "and I have a toad that sorts through messages from it for what needs my immediate attention, but there are certain parts that need special attention from time to time. It's been a while. I need to go back.

"Being here and going to school will be good for you. New experiences and all that."

Naruto snorted. "Right."

* * *

The next morning Ranma was awoken by his father throwing him out the window. He manifested his tails in order to shift his momentum and miss the pond. For the special wakeup, Ranma made extra sure to give his pop a special beatdown. He kept his tailed form for the extra speed and strength to make sure. After the "spar," he used his "boy time" and sparred with Naruto.

"So this is what you really look like, Saotome? Not bad," Nabiki said with a wink.

Ranma resisted the urge to turn into a girl. He did not want Nabiki to know that kind of thing made him nervous or she would do it all the time.

Nabiki ate a quick breakfast and left early to get them registered.

After a longer breakfast which involved the typical Saotome meal battle, Ranma and Naruto followed Akane out the door. Ranma was wearing a green silk shirt and Naruto was wearing one of Ranma's red silk shirts. They were both in the slightly younger girl forms that they had experimented with last night.

Kasumi had insisted that they wear something under their shirts so as not to be exhibitionists. Ranma refused to wear a bra, so they compromised on old-fashioned chest wrappings. Ranma had to admit, to himself, that it did feel better not to bounce all over the place even with the smaller bust of his younger version.

Ranma quickly hopped up onto a fence as they walked.

"Why are you doing that?" Akane asked.

"Balance training," said Ranma. "One of Pop's few good ideas is to train all the time and make everything training."

"Oh, is that why you aren't wearing a dress?" she asked.

"Nah," Ranma said, "I just don't like looking girly. If I gotta be a girl, I'd rather be a tomboy." He looked down at Akane. "You like being a tomboy too, don't you?"

"Not exactly," Akane responded. "I do like martial arts and physical activities, but I also like dresses and pretty things."

"So you're a 'tomgirl?'" Naruto teased. "Part tomboy, part girly girl?"

"I suppose," she responded, "but attaching a label to it like that is kind of demeaning, don't you think?"

"Depends on who's saying it and how," Naruto replied.

"Besides," added Ranma, "insults are part of martial arts. If you can't take an insult, your opponent has a huge advantage."

"Isn't that underhanded?" Akane asked.

"Anything Goes, Akane. Anything Goes."

Akane hummed tunelessly in response to show that she heard him, but was not sure whether she agreed.

"Ranma, your father isn't a good model for proper behavior," Naruto said.

"True," Ranma answered, "but he is a decent martial artist."

* * *

When they reached the school, Nabiki met them at the front gates. "Saotome Ranma and Uzumaki Naruto are register for Furinkan High School. You're both in Akane's class." She handed them each a schedule.

Naruto looked at his schedule. One problem stood out to him. "What are we going to do for Boys' P.E.?" he asked.

"If you want my advice, I'll have to charge you," said Nabiki.

"No thanks," he responded. "We'll figure something out."

"Don't say I didn't offer," she said as she walked away laughing.

As they walked into the courtyard, a boy walked out from behind a tree in a white (top) and blue (bottom) kendogi. [ _kendo_ ( _sword-based_ _martial art_ ) _uniform_ ]

"Oh, great. The stalker," muttered Akane.

"At least we're not the only ones not in uniform," commented Naruto quietly.

"Ah, the beauteous Tendou Akane, the Fierce Tigress of the First Year of Furnikan High School. I, Kunou Tatewaki, the Shooting Star of Furinkan High School, the Rising Champion of the Kendo World. . ." Kunou trailed off as Akane and her group kept walking.

"I challenge you to a duel," he called. "If you win, I will allow you to date with me!"

"We don't want to be late, Senpai," [ _upperclassman or senior_ ] Akane called back.

"Introduce me to your companions," he called.

"Can't be late," Akane repeated.

Their class was on the second floor. When they arrived, the female homeroom teacher said, "You're Saotome Ranma and Uzumaki Naruto? I was expecting boys."

"My Pop raised me as a boy and sent me to an all-boys middle school," said Ranma.

" _You_ fooled an all-boys school into thinking you were a boy?" the teacher said incredulously, looking her up and down. Ranma's silk shirt did not hide that she was a girl, at all. While her bust was less generous than in her default human girl form, the younger version's was still obvious.

"Growth spurt?" Ranma offered.

The teacher shook her head. "I can send you down to the office to get it fixed."

"No thanks," said Ranma. "I prefer the boy classes anyway."

The teacher groaned. "I suppose you prefer the same?" she asked Naruto.

"Yep," Naruto answered with a big grin.

"Are you two sisters?" the teacher asked.

"Yep," answered Naruto. "Adopted into different families and just now getting to know each other."

"Are you friends with Miss Tendou?" she asked.

"Yep," answered Ranma. "We're staying with her family."

"Ah, good," she answered. "Then she can show you where to buy uniforms. . ."

"Not wearing a dress," Ranma said.

The teacher put the heel of her palm to her temple and closed her eyes. "Just stand here until class starts and I can introduce you."

"Sure, Teach," Ranma said.

* * *

Classes were as boring as Ranma had expected, but what unnerved him were the way the boys stared at her. He could see Akane's point about the boys at the school being perverts. Most of the girls were friendly, although there were some standoffish ones. In between classes and at lunch some of them tried to talk to him and Naruto, but neither of the cursed boys were interested in boys or pop music, which seemed to be the most popular topics, so they just stayed close to Akane and tried to avoid giving away their secrets.

For P.E., he and Naruto simply avoided the locker rooms and wore their martial arts outfits. When he saw the girls' P.E. uniforms, he was glad. The girls had to wear a yellow T-shirt and barely-modest tight, red shorts.

The last period of the day was canceled in favor of a school-wide speech contest. The speeches were also boring. Nabiki gave a speech on investment. He noticed that she got a large amount of clapping, but a lot of it seemed forced. Then the last speaker strode up to the pulpit from off stage.

"Hey look, Akane," he said. "It's your stalker."

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said.

Kunou's topic was Akane. He used archaic terms to describe her personality and beauty. Akane tried to hide by bending over and covering her ears with her hands while Ranma and Naruto snickered.

"I'm going to kill him," Akane muttered angrily. "He'll regret embarrassing me like this."

"That's what he wants," Naruto said. "He wants you to beat him and win a date with him, remember?"

She groaned. "You're right."

Kunou climaxed his speack by shouting to the audience like a general rallying troops. A distressing number of boys were yelling back. He finished off with, " **I decree that whosoever wishes to date the lovely Tendou Akane must first defeat her in a duel of honor! Who is willing to undertake this glorious endeavor?** "

A full third of the males in the audience raised their hands and pledged themselves to the project. Glares from Akane and the girls in the class kept any of their male classmates from joining in. She shouted, " **I refuse the challenge! I don't agree to this!** " but was she largely drowned out by the shouting boys.


	8. Chapter 8: Unwanted Attention

**Author's Note:** In Canon, the story starts mid school year: the morning fights have been going on for a while and Ranma and Akane are 16. In this story, they hit Nerima in the second week of school (April) so none of Akane's class has turned 16 and Kunou hasn't made his proclamation yet.

I decided to make Ranma's birthday December 7 because it amuses me. As far as I know it was never given in Canon. It was probably earlier in the year, however. It's difficult to settle when things are in Canon because it's always Summer unless it's Christmas (like in most manga and comics).

* * *

Naruto followed along behind Akane who was stomping home angrily and Ranma who was once again walking on the fence. Naruto might have tried walking on the fence, but Akane was moving too fast for him to be trying something new.

"You know, that idiot's pronouncement is kind of like how the Amazons do it?" Naruto commented to Ranma.

"I was thinking the same thing," said Ranma. "Makes me glad we told them we weren't doing the 'Kisses.' Not that any of those clowns could beat me normally, but one of them might get lucky."

"Amazons? Kisses?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, there's a tribe of warrior women in China not too far from Jusenkyo," Naruto said. "They call themselves 'The Tribe of Hero Women,' but everyone else calls them Amazons."

"Naruto and I got ourselves adopted by helping to save a girl our age from these creeps called the Musk that kidnap women for wives," Ranma added.

Naruto snickered. "Ero-sennin got given the 'Kiss of Marriage' for saving the girl's mom."

"You can also be given the 'Kiss of Marriage' as an Outsider male if you beat one of their women in a fight," Ranma said. "If an Outsider female beats an Amazon, she gets given the 'Kiss of Death,' which is a promise to hunt her down and kill her." She shuddered. "That's just wrong."

Akane just stared at them. "You let yourselves be adopted by those weirdoes? Do they know you're really boys?"

"At first they didn't when Shaanpu gave us the 'Kiss of Sisterhood,' but they figured it out. They were nice, just some of their customs with Outsiders are creepy."

"Shampoo?" Akane giggled. "Like the English word for shampoo?"

"I don't know," said Ranma. "I've not had enough school to be good with English."

Naruto shrugged. "Never heard of English."

"So what did Jiraiya say about the 'Kiss of Marriage?'" Akane asked.

"Something dorky like he couldn't accept because he was 'too much man for one woman,'" said Naruto.

"Our adopted Amazon mom, Jeiru, seemed to take it pretty seriously," Ranma added.

"Gel?" Akane giggled. "Are they all named like that?"

"The others that we got to know were Geiru's grandma, Koron, and Shaanpu's friend Muusu," Naruto said.

Akane almost fell over laughing. "Shampoo, Gel, Cologne, and Mousse. Those are all English names for hair care products—except for Cologne, that's perfume for men. Are you sure those are their names?"

Naruto nodded. "Well, get it out of your system. I wouldn't be too surprised if they followed us here. I imagine they wouldn't be happy with you making fun of their names."

"Okay," she said. "I see what you mean. Well, I'm glad you managed to get me to forget that idiot Kunou for a little bit, anyway."

* * *

When they got back to Akane's house Naruto and Ranma did their evening spar and training. Akane managed to talk Naruto into sparring with her, but Ranma tried to brush her off.

"You're teaching her!" Akane said, pointing to Naruto.

"But she's really. . ." Ranma started to say, but thought better of it. Kushina was really loud and once she got going she didn't stop.

 _At least you're learning,_ the designated woman snickered in his thoughts. _I'd appreciate it if you had a more legitimate reason for stopping your chauvinism, however._

"I guess it would be alright," he finished. "Pop is going to harp on this though."

"Your pop would harp on you regardless," Naruto said.

Ranma still went easy on her, much to Akane's vocal displeasure.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Akane," Naruto said. "Ranma goes easy on me too. I think it's her way of making the fight interesting."

"Well yeah," Ranma said. "It's no fun if the fight ends too soon."

* * *

That night after everyone had gone to bed, Ranma talked Naruto into a night run as foxes.

"Ranma, you know I don't like 'going fox,'" Naruto whined.

"Come on, Imouto," Ranma said with a grin. "You know you like it. It's been too long since we've last done this."

"That's part of the problem," Naruto grumbled.

"Does this mean you're going to spend time as a girl after you can unlock your curse?" Naruto asked with a countering grin.

"That's different," Ranma grumbled.

"I thought so," Naruto said with a smirk.

"Whatever," said Ranma. "We're still going."

She grabbed Naruto and dragged him outside.

"Fine," he finally said. Reluctantly he shifted to his small fox form.

They ran through the dark neighborhoods until they found a large park. Ranma led him through the trees and up into the playground equipment.

"Doesn't this feel good?" Ranma asked. Genma had been quite irked to find out that they could speak in animal form.

"I admit that it does," Naruto said reluctantly, "but I still hate the idea of it." Then he snickered. "You can't tell me you don't enjoy beating on your father as a foxgirl, too."

"I admit that the extra speed and strength are nice, and the tails can be useful, but I don't actually _like_ being a girl," Ranma protested.

"You can't tell me you don't like the fact that when your father calls you a girl, you can actually make him regret it while being a girl," Naruto said.

Ranma smirked. "He just says it's the magic and whines at me to 'stop cheating and fight like a man.'"

"He should know: Anything Goes, right?" Naruto smirked.

"Right!" Ranma agreed.

"Think there are still some squirrels still awake that we can chase?" Ranma asked after a moment.

"You're getting way too into this, Neechan," Naruto complained.

* * *

The next morning, when Akane and the two cursed boys arrived at school they found a horde of boys waiting for them.

"We love you, Akane! Date with us!" they shouted before they rushed her.

"What?" she yelled. "I didn't agree to Kunou's stupid pronouncement."

She started clobbering any boy who came within reach. Ranma joined in and Naruto did as well as they bracketed Akane as she waded through the boys in an attempt to reach the school doors.

"I can fight my own battles," Akane said waspishly.

"Yes, but why should you?" Naruto answered. "You didn't agree to the terms; so why should you go along with it?"

"Besides," said Ranma. "Why should you have all the fun?"

"You think this is fun?" Akane snapped.

"Huh," Ranma mused. "You're right. These guys are awful. It's not worth the time it takes to beat them down."

A few minutes later only Ranma, Naruto, and Akane were standing. Ranma was bored, his potential fiancée was furious, and his 'sister' was bemused.

"Usually it's a bunch of me fighting. It's weird to be on the other side of it," Naruto commented.

"Huh?" Akane said.

"She has a ki trick where she can make a bunch of fragile copies of herself," Ranma commented.

"Ero-sennin asked me to keep a low profile, so I haven't used it since I've been here," Naruto explained.

As they stepped forward, Kunou stepped out from behind a tree again. He threw a rose toward Akane. Ranma swatted it out of the air.

Kunou spoke pompously, "Maiden, while you are fair, that flower was intended to show my pure intentions toward the beauteous Tendou Akane. May I know your name?"

Ranma started to answer. "I am . . ."

Kunou interrupted her. "Ah, but it is courteous to introduce oneself first. I am the Rising Star of Furinkan High School. New Champion of the High School Kendo circuit, Kunou Tatewaki, age 16. I see that you are a spirited lass. Let us duel for love. If you win, I will allow you to date with me. If you lose, I will take you on a date with me."

"Wait," said Akane with a little bit of hope in her voice. "Does this mean you'll leave me alone?"

"Fierce Tendou Akane, I could never let our love die. Luckily, I have enough love for you both, or maybe all three? I could never separate twins."

All three of them looked at him disgustedly—Ranma most of all.

Ranma opened his mouth to say something, but Naruto grabbed his arm.

She shook her head. "I know that look, Neechan. You were about to do something stupid."

"He challenged me," Ranma said, as if that explained it.

"Didn't you listen to the terms, Idiot?" Naruto said. "The only way to win is not to play."

Ranma struggled within himself. Years of reflexes drilled into him by his pop about accepting all challenges fighting with Naruto's simple logic.

"You're right," he said finally. He turned to Kunou. "I decline your challenge until you present acceptable terms."

"But. . ." Kunou said as the three turned away from him and marched the building.

* * *

As they were walking home from school, Akane asked, "Do you think that's the end of it?"

Ranma shook her head, "I doubt it. Kunou seems especially slow. His type never stops."

"I don't know about the horde," Naruto said, "but I agree with Neechan about Kunou."

"What do you think I should do?" the dark-haired girl asked.

"I think you should make a public vow to never date anyone involved in the morning assaults," Naruto said.

"Might work for the horde," Ranma said, "but I doubt it will sway Kunou. I also think we're about at the end of where walking away from him works."

* * *

The next morning the horde of boys was waiting for them in the school courtyard. They shouted "We love you, Akane!"

Ranma sounded a foghorn on a loudspeaker that Akane had rented from Nabiki. He handed it to Akane who used it to drown out the shouting boys.

" **I vow that I will never date any of the perverts who participate in these attacks. Neither will my two friends and I strongly encourage the other girls in our school to make the same vow. You are little better than rapists. My friends will back me up if one of you gets a lucky shot in.** "

"No chance of me dating these guys to begin with," Ranma muttered to himself.

About a third of the horde slunk away. Naruto held out her palm for the loudspeaker. " **In addition to our fists, today we will each be armed with these!** " She held up a stamp. " **A stamp with the kanji for 'Prospective Rapist' and a permanent ink pad. Have fun explaining it to your parents.** " She gave a horrifying laugh.

Half the remaining boys slunk off. The rest looked at each other and decided they didn't have a chance with their lower numbers. One of the braver boys stepped forward and bowed. "We apologize for the inconvenience. Kunou convinced us that you would be flattered by the attention. The morning contests will not continue."

"That boy is insane!" Ranma yelled. "Why would you listen to anything he says?!"

As the three marched up to the school, Kunou once again appeared from behind a tree. "Those of faint heart never won fair maidens!" he pronounced. "You are better off without those cowards. Now we are free to show our love. . ."

The three kept walking.

Kunou grabbed Naruto's arm, who had the misfortune of the being the closest to him.

Naruto shrieked loudly and then started wailing. "He touched me. The horrid creep touched me. When will I feel clean again?" The blonde made a huge overwrought scene which caused the kendoist to withdraw due to the glares of all the girls in the courtyard and a large number of the boys.

Ranma inked his stamp and threw it hard. It hit Kunou's forehead and bounced off, leaving the kanji behind.

"You really don't have any shame do you, Imouto?" Ranma asked as they entered the building.

Naruto grinned at him. "Shame is a weakness. If you're willing to embarrass yourself, usually everyone else is embarrassed too."

"I was certainly embarrassed," Akane muttered.

* * *

Thursday morning, the courtyard was empty of boys seeking to date Akane. Akane exchanged a smile with the two fox sisters as they entered the courtyard. Kunou again appeared. Ranma noticed happily that his forehead was red and a little raw looking from scrubbing the ink off of it. Kunou tossed a rose. Ranma batted it out of the air again. The three ignored the speech he was offering. As they avoided Kunou, Naruto hung back just a little so that Kunou would have to deal with her first again.

This time when Kunou grabbed her, she gave an ear-piercing shriek and kept holding it.

Ranma once again nailed Kunou in the forehead with a stamp.

While everyone was holding their ears, Ranma and Akane made a run for the school. Naruto stopped and quickly followed them once they were almost to the building.

* * *

Friday morning, Kunou tried to go around Naruto but she sprayed him with pepper spray.

At lunch, Ranma talked the others into eating outside rather than in their classroom. After they had all seated themselves under a tree. Kunou approached them.

Naruto reached into a pocket, but Kunou said, "Stay your hand she-devil, I have no interest in you."

Ranma exchanged a high five with his 'sister.'

"The mercenary sister of the fierce Tendou Akane has informed me that her sister is under a grievous engagement to the cousin of the fair Ranma and devilish Naruto."

Ranma snorted. "It's their Pops' idea and it isn't decided which Tendou sister will fulfill the engagement."

"Who else could it be but the fair Akane?" Kunou shouted. "It is not to be bourn! Tell your cousin to meet me tomorrow after school and we will battle for the fierce Tendou Akane's hand!"

"Fine!" Ranma said. "He'll be there."

"Ranma," Akane hissed as she hit him in the thigh, hard. "You can't give me away like that! I'm my own person."

"Right," he said as he rubbed his thigh. He called so that Kunou could hear him, "We don't agree to your terms, because he doesn't have the ability to give away Akane's hand, but he will be there because you're an obnoxious jerk."

* * *

Akane was irritated because she thought that Ranma was "stealing her fight."

"You can't fight him," Naruto said, "and Ranma can't as a girl either. Haven't you heard him talk? If a girl fights him, he'll think she owes him a date. He'll never stop obsessing."

"I guess," said Akane, frustrated, "but I don't like it."

* * *

Saturday was a half day at school. After school, Ranma used some of her 'boy time' in order to be male as he went out to the field to meet Kunou. Naruto tagged along beside Akane. He kept his girl guise so that it wouldn't appear that Akane's new friends had completely abandoned her.

Kunou was waiting in the field holding a pose that Naruto thought made him look ridiculous.

"Where is the fiery Ranma?" asked Kunou. "Surely she wishes to behold my victory so that she may be free to proclaim her love!"

Ranma looked green.

"My sister holds only apathy for you, Kunou," Naruto said. "Akane and I are only here to support my cousin in introducing you to pain."

"I, Kunou Tatewaki, the Rising Star of Furinkan High School, challenge you to a duel for the hand of the fierce and beauteous Tendou Akane!"

"I am Saotome Ranma, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma said. "For the engagement you'll have to talk to Mr. Tendou and my pop. I didn't have anything to do with arranging it and I doubt they would let me out of it if I tried. Also, it's not decide yet which of the Tendou sisters will fulfill it. I'm only here to get you to stop harassing my cousin and Akane because they asked you to stop. They would fight you themselves, but you've always set disagreeable terms for the matches."

Naruto heard some murmuring about Ranma having the same name as his girl form. One of the girls near him asked him about it, but he simply answered, "It's a family name."

"Coward!" Kunou proclaimed. "You are unwilling to put your love on the line!"

"It's an arranged marriage," Ranma growled.

"I strike," Kunou said as he lunged forward with a wakizashi-sized bokken.

Ranma dodged out of the way. Kunou kept lunging and Ranma kept dodging. Kunou was faster than Naruto had thought he would be, but still well below Ranma's speed. He did notice that a few near misses still ruffled Ranma's clothes in an odd way.

"Stop toying with him Ranma!" Naruto shouted.

Ranma's next dodge set him up for a strike at Kunou's bokken. Naruto was surprised that the bokken survived the hit.

"I've seen him shatter hardwood with a hit like that," he said to Akane. "I wonder what Kunou's done to it to strengthen it?"

"Ranma's not going to lose now, is he?" asked one of Akane's other friends, worriedly. Naruto thought her name was Sayuri.

"Nah," Naruto said. "Ranma's got the fight in hand. He's just playing with him—which is his biggest weakness in a fight. It's only that Kunou is better than we thought he would be. Ranma's still far better."

Ranma's next move was to strike at Kunou's wrist. This time Kunou dropped the bokken which Ranma kicked so that it sailed over everyone's head.

"Knave!" Kunou shouted. "How dare you separate a samurai from his sacred weapon!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "How can this guy be for real?"

"He's always been like this. The rest of his family isn't any better," Sayuri commented.

Ranma grabbed Kunou's arm and threw him over his shoulder. He kept contact with his arm and held the samurai wannabe in on the ground with his knee on his back and his arm in an arm-bar submission hold.

"You lose, Kunou," he said.

"Never!" Kunou yelled "My righteous cause can never admit defeat! I have simply not won yet."

"Is there anyone here who thinks this match is not over?" Ranma asked.

"I do! I will vanquish you yet, Knave!" Kunou shouted. The audience was silent.

"Looks like you're outvoted, Kunou," Ranma said.

"Samurai do not submit to a vote, Fool," Kunou responded.

"Samurai have honor," said Akane. "You do not. Admit your loss, _Sempai_." She snarled the honorific.

Naruto uncapped a permanent marker and wrote "Honorless Dog" on Kunou's forehead.

"Stay back, She-Devil," Kunou said. "What lies do you write on me now?"

"No lies, Honorless Dog," Akane said.

Ranma released him and stood up. The three of them plus a few of Akane's friends began to walk away. The crowd dispersed.

At the front of the school, Akane and Naruto said goodbye to Sayuri and the other girl, Yuka.

As they turned toward Akane's house, Naruto's danger sense went off. He could feel Ranma move beside him, pulling Akane out of the way.

"You really are an honorless dog, aren't you?" Ranma said to Kunou who had tried to split his head open with his recovered bokken.

"Fool," Kunou said angrily. "I said the match wasn't over. Like a coward, you have vacated the field of honor."

"You're dead meat, Dog," said Ranma, growling.

"Ranma only growls when he's mad," Naruto murmured to Akane.

Ranma proceeded to beat Kunou unconscious. "If this is the only way to make you stay down, you can enjoy your concussion, Dog."

"You think this is the end of it?" Akane asked.

"I really don't think so," answered Naruto.

* * *

Sunday morning, Jiraiya pulled Naruto and Ranma aside. "I'm off. Got to check up on things back home. Like I said before, I should be gone three or four weeks. Are you two going to be okay without me?"

"We'll be okay, Ero-sennin," Naruto responded. "I still think you're leaving to use your cursed form to peep, though."

"Bah," Jiraiya responded. "I don't need to leave to do that. Plenty of public baths here."

Naruto swung at him, but missed. "Bad Ero-sennin," she said.

"You're coming along well with your exercises," said Jiraiya to Ranma. "You might even be able to channel enough chakra to manifest your seals by the time I get back. If you do, Naruto can teach you the 'Academy Three' techniques."

Ranma was excited at the thought of new techniques.

"I'll do it, no problem," he said. "After that, how long do you think it will be until I can unlock the curse?"

"A couple of months, maybe?" Jiraiya guessed. "I set the release seal a little high, just to make sure there isn't a problem. The 'Academy Three' are E-rank techniques. The seal should be releasable once you have enough organized chakra and control to do an average B-rank."

He said to Naruto, "You can also start her on chakra control techniques. Start with Leaf Sticking. Once she can do the 'Academy Three' you can teach her Tree Walking and Water Walking."

"What if she's like me and can't do the Clone Technique?" Naruto asked.

"That shouldn't happen since she's just developing her coils. Although you might have trouble teaching it, since you still don't have enough control to do it. If she has trouble with it for more than a week, just skip it. Don't teach her Shadow Clones until she can unlock the curse though, since it's a B-rank and dangerous to try without enough chakra," he added seriously.

Jiraiya said goodbye to the Tendou family and then left.


	9. Chapter 9: Ryouga

That evening Naruto and Ranma met Minato and Kushina in the seal-scape. They transformed to male shortly after arriving, as was their custom.

"How would you like to learn the family art, Naruto?" Kushina asked.

"I'd love to!" Naruto exclaimed. He paused. "What is the family art?"

"Sealing!" Kushina said. "The Uzumaki have been famous for our fuuinjutsu [ _sealing techniques_ ] for a long time."

"While my family wasn't known for it—most of it not being ninja, I was," Minato said. "I first learned fuuinjutsu from Jiraiya-sensei, and then Kushina. Later I started making my own seals."

"I asked Ero-sennin about sealing," Naruto said, "but he told me I had other things to learn first. When I asked Baachan about it, she told me to talk to Ero-sennin."

"That's odd," Kushina said. "Tsunade might have access to some Uzumaki materials because of her grandma."

"Baachan's baachan?" Naruto asked.

"Uzumaki Mito, the First Hokage's wife," said Kushina. "She was an expert at sealing and the first jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

"So Baachan really is a relative?" asked Naruto.

"She's your second cousin twice removed. I used to call Mito my great aunt, but she was really my great great aunt."

Naruto frowned. "She never told me."

Naruto's mood changed. With a smile, he exclaimed, "When do we start?"

"Would you like to learn too, Ranma?" Kushina asked. "You _are_ an honorary Uzumaki."

"What's sealing about?" Ranma asked, curious. "I know it sealed the giant fox into us and it keeps my curse locked. What else?"

"You can use it to store things into scrolls," said Naruto. "Or make things explode," he added excitedly.

"I think that last one is why Jiraiya and Tsunade haven't taught you yet, Son," Minato commented.

"What? I could do it," Naruto protested.

"I think that's why their worried, Imouto," Ranma needled.

Naruto stuck out his tongue at him.

"There isn't much that you can't do with seals if you have enough knowledge and imagination. You just need to have the time to prepare."

"Do you think you can lock my un-cursed form like Jiraiya locked my cursed form?" Ranma asked.

"It's possible it could be done," said Minato, "but I don't have any ideas that Jiraiya hadn't considered."

"Your father's most famous move was made possible by seals," Kushina told Naruto.

"The Hiraishin?" [ _Flying Thunder God_ ] Naruto asked.

"That's right. It's why he was called the Yellow Flash."

Ranma could not help himself. He started chuckling at the name.

Minato looked irritated. "I didn't choose the nickname."

"What does that technique do?" asked Ranma.

"It's a time/space technique that allows for a series of near-instantaneous teleportations that overlap in time," Minato said.

Ranma stared at him blankly, trying to figure out what that meant.

"Let me translate for you," said Kushina. "I'm fluent in Minato-ese. He means it allows him to teleport to a bunch of places all at once so that he can do a bunch of things at the same time."

"Strictly speaking, it only appears to be at the same time," Minato said.

"At the same time," Kushina repeated. She said it sternly, but he could see that her eyes were twinkling.

"Nobody ever appreciates the details," Minato complained. His eyes were twinkling too.

"Okay," said Ranma. "I'm game."

"Me too!" Naruto said.

"Okay," said Kushina. "The first step is to test your handwriting skills."

Both boys groaned.

* * *

True to Ranma's prediction, Kunou did not give up. He claimed that he had won the fight since Ranma had left "the field of battle."

Naruto took the opportunity to mace Kunou whenever the crazy bokken wielder approached him. Kunou took to avoiding him. Ranma started using a couple of minutes of her "boy time" to change the color of her hair for long enough to scare the looney away. This caused Kunou to start ranting about how the 'she-devil' had worked her magic on her angelic sister and that by destroying the 'foul sorcerer' he would destroy the source of her power and free her sister. For some reason, Kunou seemed reluctant to go all out against Naruto the way he had against Ranma's male form—probably due to an overactive sense of chivalry.

Between the two of them, they managed to shield Akane from him, for the most part. The plan irritated Akane, but she agreed that it was better than dealing with Kunou.

* * *

About a week after Ranma had defeated Kunou, the three of them were exiting school when they saw a miniature bull dog waiting outside the school. It had a yellow bandana with black marks around its neck.

Ranma approached the dog. She knelt and let the dog sniff her.

"Hey, boy," she said. "You looking for someone?"

"You like dogs?" Akane asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "They keep the furry little demons away."

"Furry little demons?" Akane asked, confused.

"She means cats," Naruto said. "Neechan can't stand them for some reason."

"One of my old buddies had a dog that he'd used to lead him around," Ranma commented, scratching the little dog behind the ears.

"Was he blind?" Akane asked.

"Nah," Ranma said. "Just really easily lost."

"What?" Naruto said, disbelieving.

"I'm serious," Ranma protested. "If his dog or I didn't take him to school he'd go missing for weeks."

"Be realistic, Ranma," Akane said.

"I'm telling the truth!" Ranma said.

 _Where!?_ said the dog.

"Where's what, Little Guy?" Ranma said.

 _Where that human?_ the dog asked.

"Which human?" said Ranma.

"Why are you saying that to the dog, Ranma?" asked Akane.

 _That one_ , said the dog.

"He's looking for someone," said Ranma.

"How can you tell?" Akane asked.

"I just can," Ranma said.

"I can too," said Naruto.

"I wonder if it's because he's another canine," said Akane.

"Another canine?" said Naruto, irritated. "We're human."

"What if that's only superficial?" asked Akane. "You can still access your supernatural powers a little, even when you're human, right?"

Ranma shrugged. Naruto grimaced.

"I think he reacts whenever someone says your name, Ranma," Naruto said.

 _That one. Where?_ the dog said.

"I'm Ranma, Little Guy," she said.

 _Not you. Male,_ the dog said.

Ranma frowned. "Why are you looking for him?"

 _Ran away. Followed. Suffered much. Must kill_.

"What's he saying?" asked Akane.

Naruto frowned. "It's hard to translate, since it appears Canine only has simple concepts and he can't say human names for people and places."

Ranma translated, "He's saying that male Ranma ran away and he followed. He suffered a lot and now he wants to kill male Ranma."

 _Yes_ , said the dog, wagging his stubby tail.

"Where did you last see Ranma, Little Guy?" Ranma asked.

 _Follow. Much water. Sad._

"He followed you to a place that had a lot of water and was sad?" Naruto was unsure of the nuances of the translation.

"Were you sad or the place sad?" Ranma asked.

 _I sad. Place sad._

"He says both," Naruto said.

"Where's the saddest place you've been?" asked Akane.

"Jusenkyo," both cursed boys said.

Naruto noticed that there was a large pack next to where the dog was. An umbrella was strapped to the back of it.

"I bet this is his pack," Naruto said. "Is this yours, Boy?"

 _Yes,_ said the dog, wagging his tail.

"I guess we should take him to the bathroom?" Ranma said.

The three of them headed into the school to find a bathroom. Ranma carried the dog and Naruto the pack. The pack was super heavy.

"Next time, you're carrying the pack, Neechan," Naruto complained.

"I thought you didn't like dogs, Imouto," Ranma said.

"It's more that animals don't like me," Naruto said. "Akane can carry the dog, next time."

"I'll make sure the bathroom is empty," Akane offered, ducking into the girl's bathroom.

She returned quickly. "It's empty."

Ranma grimaced and Naruto shrugged his shoulders. They carried the dog and his pack into the bathroom. Naruto set the pack on the floor. Ranma set the dog on the counter next to the sink and turned on the hot water tap.

The dog sat next to the water. _Thanks. Leave._

Naruto giggled. "I think he's shy. Let's leave him in peace, Neechan."

The two of them left the restroom. About five minutes later, a dark-haired boy wearing the pack exited the bathroom. He was wearing the same bandana on his head.

"How'd you girls know about Jusenkyo?" he asked.

Naruto did not want to admit that he changed and he did not think Ranma did either.

"Wait, the red-haired one is named Ranma," the boy said. "Are you the coward that ran away from our man-to-man duel?"

Ranma seemed to concentrate for a moment. "I know who you are! How are you doing, Ryouga Buddy?"

Ryouga pulled his umbrella off his pack and brandished it. "Well?"

Ranma frowned. "I didn't run away. I waited for you for three days. Then Pop clobbered me when I wasn't paying attention and dragged me off."

"When I showed up on the fourth day you weren't there! You knew about my problem, Coward."

Ranma frowned. "What part of 'Pop clobbered me when I wasn't paying attention and dragged me off' did you not understand?"

"Because of you, I've seen hell!" Ryouga shouted.

Ranma grinned. "Fine! You want a rematch? We can do it out in the soccer field. Follow me and try not to get lost." She started for the door to outside.

"Err, aren't you going to change?" Ryouga asked.

"Can't," Ranma responded as she stopped to wait for the others.

"Don't lie to me, Ranma!" Ryouga shouted. "I saw pictures of the fight with that kendoist." He pulled out a small magazine.

Naruto grabbed the magazine and looked through it. It provided a play-by-play of the fight between Ranma and Kunou, complete with photos.

"Looks like Nabiki's work," Akane said as she looked over Naruto's shoulder.

"Look, Ryouga," said Ranma. "My curse is locked for now, but it provides some limited shape-shifting abilities. I've used them up for today, pretty much," Ranma and Naruto had started to save a ten-minute reserve of "boy time" for emergencies. "If you want your 'man-to-man fight' today, you'll have to fight me like this. Otherwise, we can do it tomorrow."

"We'll fight tomorrow so that you won't have any excuses when you lose!" Ryouga declared.

Naruto laughed. "She's actually better as a girl."

"Huh?" said Ryouga.

"The curse makes her stronger and faster, but she loses that when she shifts back to a boy."

"How come your cursed form can shapeshift?" Ryouga asked suspiciously.

Ranma sighed. "I'll show if you promise not to tell on your honor as a martial artist."

"Why should I after what you did to me?" said Ryouga.

"What did I do to you, exactly?" Ranma said.

"You ran away like a coward and when I followed you I got knocked into the cursed spring by that panda and a fox," Ryouga shouted.

"How was that my fault?" Ranma shouted back.

Naruto wondered if Ranma realized who the panda and fox likely were. She was kind of oblivious at times if it did not have to do with a fight.

"If you weren't a coward. . ." Ryouga started.

"I told you that was my Pop's fault," Ranma said starting to get mad. Naruto could see her eyes start to narrow into slits. "And you should have been able to get to the lot behind your house quicker than four days!"

"You knew about my problem!" Ryouga shouted.

"And you knew about my pop!" Ranma shouted back. "You should have made arrangements!"

Naruto thought that Ranma was about to blow their secret without extracting the promise. "Calm down both of you," she commanded. "Ryouga, stop blaming Ranma for something that was not his fault."

"But. . ."

"You should have made arrangements to make it on time."

"Hey, why do you look like Ranma?" Ryouga asked, suspiciously.

"We fell in the same spring," Naruto answered.

"Ranma, you should keep your temper," he said to his sister. "Look, I want all four of us to promise on our honor not to reveal the secret of our Jusenkyo curses."

"Who's she?" Ryouga said, indicating Akane.

"That's Akane. Ranma and I are staying at her house," Naruto answered.

"Does she have a curse?" Ryouga asked.

"No, I don't," said Akane. "But if you promise to keep Ranma and Naruto's secret, I'll keep yours."

"I'll keep the secret as long as Ranma keeps mine," Ryouga promised.

"I'll extend you the same courtesy," said Ranma.

"Me too," said Naruto.

"I'll keep your secrets," promised Akane.

"Okay," said Ranma. "My real curse is the reason I could understand you while you were a dog." She shifted so that her tails were showing.

Naruto sighed and shifted too.

"Hey," said Ryouga. "Your tails are the same color as the fox that knocked me off the cliff into the spring."

"I never touched you!" said Ranma. "I jumped over you. It was the panda's fault! He's the one that knocked me into a spring, too!"

Ryouga stared at the boy-turned-foxgirl. "Who was the panda?"

"Pop," said Ranma. "Who else?"

"You always blame him for your problems, Ranma!" Ryouga said.

"Have you actually seen what Ranma's life is like?" Naruto said. "The panda _is_ to blame for most of it."

"I'd have to agree to that," said Akane, "if even half of what I've heard is true and based on my observations it is."

"Well, you're not getting out of our man-to-man fight this time," Ryouga said. "Tomorrow! After school! In the field!"

"Fine!" Ranma agreed.

Naruto, Ranma, and Akane walked turned to leave.

"Can someone lead me out to the field?" Ryouga asked sheepishly.

* * *

The next day, as the three of them approached the school, Ranma led them around back to the field.

"I thought so," he said, pointing at the tent set up in the field.

"Why didn't he go home?" Akane asked.

"It would take him weeks to find his house and then weeks to make it back here," Ranma replied.

"Oh," Akane, said. "That's kind of sad."

"It really is," Ranma said. "I used to help him out, but I think I made a mess of it. Until Naruto, I didn't know how to be a friend. I'd hate to think how things would have gone between you and me if it weren't for Imouto. Between my lack of anything remotely resembling manners and your temper, we would have been at each other's throats constantly."

"I don't have a temper!" Akane said.

Naruto erupted into giggles.

Akane chuckled ruefully. "Well, maybe a little."

"I have to admit that you're my first real friend too, Neechan," said Naruto. "I kind of had friends before, but no close ones. Probably the closest friend I had tried to kill me a year ago. My next closest friend constantly hit me. All the rest were little more than acquaintances."

"You mean you managed to make something work out of mutual dysfunction?" Akane asked slyly.

"I guess," Naruto said.

"Pop was never let us stay in one place for long," said Ranma. "The only other person besides Ryouga that I got to know as a friend, I haven't seen since I was six."

"I was the village pariah until just a few years ago," Naruto said.

"Why?" asked Akane.

"Something to do with the circumstances of my birth that people couldn't let go of. Let's head in so we aren't late. I think our detour confused Kunou."

Once again male Ranma took the field in order to fight. Nabiki had heard about the fight and spread the news, so there was a crowd. The first order of business was dispatching Kunou, who had appeared to vanquish the "foul sorcerer." This took Ranma only a few moments.

"Ranma, prepare to die!" Ryouga said.

"Is this the thanks I get for leading you to and from school and sparring with you all the time?" Ranma replied.

"Because of you I've seen hell!"

"Are you sure you didn't get there because you were lost?" Ranma said with a smirk.

"Die!" Ryouga shouted as he lunged with his umbrella toward the other boy.

Ranma hopped up unto the umbrella and peered at Ryouga. "You have a real temper issue. Have you considered counseling?"

Ryouga let loose a wordless yell and slashed with the umbrella to get Ranma off. Ranma hopped off and dodged Ryouga's slashes and lunges.

"Stand still and fight like a man!" Ryouga shouted.

"Too slow!" crowed Ranma.

"Stop playing around, Ranma," Akane called. "Is this a fight or a gymnastics meet?"

"Fine, fine," said Ranma.

He closed the gap between the two and they started exchanging blows. Ranma got inside his guard so that the umbrella was of limited use. Ranma was still able to dodge a majority of Ryouga's blows, but the ones he had to block, seemed to be brutal. Ranma was punishing the arm holding the umbrella, so Ryouga let it drop.

The fight moved and out of curiosity, one of the bystanders tried to pick up the umbrella.

"This thing weighs a ton!" the boy said.

Both boys were looking a little worse for wear, but Ranma seemed to have the upper hand. Ryouga managed to throw Ranma, but he managed to right himself midair and landed smoothly. Ryouga grabbed multiple bandanas from his head. Surprisingly, he still seemed to be wearing one. He tossed the bandanas at Ranma. They spun rapidly. One of them cut through the branch of a nearby tree.

"Idiot!" called Ranma. "You can't do that with bystanders here!"

"Then stop dodging, coward!" Ryouga snarled as he flung more razor-sharp bandanas.

Naruto grabbed onto Akane and pulled her to the ground as several came toward them. A low one barely missed them.

"That was close," Naruto muttered. As he sat up he could see Akane reach for a bundle of hair held together by a ribbon.

"My hair," Akane said quietly.

"The beast!" Sayuri said angrily. "How could he be this careless!?"

A murmur ran through the crowd. The girls in it were starting to get angry.

Ryouga and Ranma paused as they realized something was wrong.

"Look at what you did, Ranma!" Ryouga said angrily.

"Me?" Ranma said incredulously. "You threw it!"

"If you fought like a man, Little Girl," Ryouga sneered, "it wouldn't have happened."

"He's not a martial artist, Ranma," Naruto called. "He's just a bully that wants someone to beat on."

"Yeah, you're right!" Ranma said.

The crowd murmured agreement.

Ranma started to glow lightly with foxfire. Naruto was afraid that he would change to his foxgirl form if he was not careful.

"Watch yourself, Ranma," he called.

Ranma looked down and noticed the foxfire. The foxfire faded. He charged the Lost Boy. The tempo of the fight changed. Whereas before Ranma had been fighting at Ryouga's level, it was now apparent that the other boy was outclassed. After a few minutes, the Lost Boy was lying on the ground wheezing.

"I don't mind sparring with you, Ryouga," Ranma said. "But if you ever endanger another bystander again, you'll regret it."

When they got home, Kasumi trimmed Akane's hair so that it was even. Everyone told her it looked good, but Naruto noticed that she kept staring sadly at the severed ponytail.


	10. Chapter 10: Dogs and Cats

**Author's Note:** I've removed "No Pairing" from the summary because I don't think it means the same to me as it does to everyone else. Don't expect Ranma to settle down in this fic, even if he chooses an "official" fiancée, but there will be some dating, etc.

* * *

As had become their custom, on days that they didn't meet with Naruto's parents in the seal, Ranma had dragged Naruto out for a run through the city in fox form. They both found that they did not need as much sleep in their cursed forms.

They stopped for a brief rest underneath some playground equipment.

"What do you think of the Tendou sisters?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? They're alright, I guess," Ranma answered vaguely.

"You know that you're supposed to be choosing between them, right?" his 'sister' prodded.

"I've got most of a year before I have to decide," Ranma said, dismissing it.

"You know that if you let the Old Man decide, he's going to choose your least favorite, don't you?"

Ranma's tail and head both drooped.

"Don't worry, I'll help you, Neechan," Naruto said. "What do you think of them individually?"

"Well, Kasumi is nice, but boring. She's a very good cook which is nice, but she seems kind of shallow—like there's nothing to her.

"Nabiki honestly creeps me out. I've heard rumors around school that she's like a mini yakuza—blackmail, betting rings, loan sharking. Plus, she demands payment for everything. She always looks at me like she's trying to figure out how to get the most use out of me.

"Akane is actually a pretty good friend most of the time, but I think a large part of that is because she sees me as a girl. She always more standoffish when I'm in my normal form. She has a temper, and I think she'd hit me if you weren't here to distract her whenever she's about to lose it."

"If you had to pick one of the three right now, which would it be?" the blonde fox asked.

Ranma thought for a moment. "Probably Akane, but that's only because I know her the best. If I figured out that there was more to Kasumi than appears on the surface, I could see myself picking her."

"You really ought to give her a chance. Maybe even Nabiki too." Naruto smirked. "Or you could blow them all off and follow me back to Konoha."

"It's tempting," Ranma admitted, "but I'm not ready to turn my back on my family. Plus, I get the feeling that Pop was lying about Mom. If she's still alive, she's probably in Tokyo—likely even in Nerima."

"You should take them each on a date," Naruto said.

"I don't know anything about dating," Ranma admitted.

"Me either," Naruto admitted. "Maybe you could start with Kasumi and ask her to help plan it? It seems like she would be the safest one to start with—she's less likely to gouge you or blow up at you."

* * *

When they arrived back at the Tendou's house, there was a figure in their room, poking at their futons with an umbrella.

"Ryouga, what are you doing here?" Ranma asked.

"Looking for you, coward!" he yelled.

"Quiet, idiot!" Ranma hissed. "You don't want to wake up the Tendous."

"Why are you here in the middle of the night?" Naruto asked.

"My revenge cannot wait! It took me all day to just get here."

"It can wait till morning," Naruto said. "Go away."

"No!" Ryouga said.

"Go away or I call 'Rapist!'" Naruto said.

"What?" Ryouga stuttered. "You wouldn't!"

"She really would," Ranma said solemnly. "She has absolutely no shame."

"What should I think?" Naruto said. "A man assaulting two young women in their room in the middle of the night?"

"You two aren't really women!" Ryouga hissed.

"Right now we are," Naruto countered. "I bet a medical exam would say so."

"Speak for yourself, Imouto," Ranma hissed.

"Why do you want revenge anyway?" Naruto asked. "Ranma beat you fair and square."

"I wanted a man-to-man fight! Not all that hopping around!" Ryouga said.

"That's my style of fighting!" Ranma protested angrily. "You can't just claim it isn't manly!"

"Fights should be decided fist against fist! Strength against strength!" Ryouga declared.

"If that's the only way you can fight, you've already lost before you've begun," Ranma said.

"Whatever," said Naruto. "Go away, Ryouga. I don't want to hear any more from you tonight. If I ever catch you in my room uninvited again, you'll wish you were never born."

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Kasumi was showing off her new pet. "This is Jaki-chan."

She held up Ryouga's cursed form.

"Like the Hong Kong martial arts actor?" Akane asked.

Kasumi looked thoughtful. "No, I named him an English name since he's an English Bulldog. He's so adorable, I have to call him -chan."

Ranma could not decide whether she was pulling their legs or not. The dog growled at Ranma.

"I don't think he likes you, Ranma," Naruto said with a smirk.

"Nonsense," Kasumi said, "He's just hungry."

After, everyone had gathered and breakfast had started, Kasumi fed him a little of her fish, but the dog fixated on Ranma.

On the way to school, Akane said, "What do we do about Ryouga? I'm not really comfortable with my sister fawning over him like that. It was all I could do to not smash the pervert."

"I don't like it either," Ranma said, "but we swore to keep his secret."

"The only saving grace is that Kasumi is too proper to sleep with him in her bed," Akane said.

"I think Ranma and I should stay out of it, Akane," Naruto said. "If we do anything, Ryouga will claim we broke our promise and tell everyone that we're fox youkai, [ _supernatural creatures_ ] but you have a legitimate competing responsibility to protect your sister's virtue."

"I don't want to break my martial artist's oath either," Akane complained, "but I really hate him taking advantage of my sister." She quieted down. "Do you think he'll take advantage of her _that way_."

"Ryouga's too shy to do anything like that," Ranma admitted. "He wouldn't even look at my chest. Still, it's not right."

"Take him aside and give him a warning, if he's still there when we get back," Naruto suggested. "Tell him if it even looks like he's taking advantage of your sister, you'll be forced to tell her. That puts the responsibility for it back on him."

"Good idea," Akane said.

* * *

That evening, to Ranma's discomfort, Naruto gathered the Tendou sisters out into the dojo. Luckily, Jaki-chan had already gotten himself lost.

"Welcome everyone to the first official meeting of Ranma's fiancées!" she said cheerfully.

Ranma groaned.

Nabiki smirked and said, "I didn't think you were a fiancée, Uzumaki. Unless things are _different_ in your family?"

"As Ranma's sister, I'm the official facilitator of fiancées," Naruto said.

"Did Ranma appoint you to this position?" Nabiki asked.

"One never needs to be asked to _look after_ their sister, do they, Nabiki?" Naruto said slyly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Uzumaki," Nabiki said archly. She folded her arms. "You're falling into the position of sister pretty easily, for someone who was a boy a few months ago, aren't you?"

"I'll not deny that I'd rather be Ranma's brother," Naruto said quietly, "but being a sister isn't so bad." She brightened at the end.

Ranma felt a pang of guilt at having pressured Naruto to be a girl more than she had to.

His 'sister' rubbed her hands together and cackled creepily. "Anyway, on with the matchmaking!"

Ranma smacked her lightly in the back of the head. "I don't need any help with that."

Naruto smirked. "You've had three beautiful potential fiancées for over two weeks and you haven't even asked one of them on a date yet!"

He smacked her lightly again. "Enough. Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane, in order to help me decide which one of you will be my official fiancée when I turn 16, I'd like to get to know you better." He rubbed the back of his head. "I thought I'd take the three of you out on a date over the next week. Is that agreeable to each of you?"

"I don't know, Saotome," Nabiki drawled. "I'm a little uncomfortable in being asked out by a girl." She did not look uncomfortable _at all_.

Ranma sighed. He activated his reserve of "boy time." "Fine," he said. "Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane. Would you each go on a date with me?"

"I don't know, Saotome," Nabiki drawled again. "Being asked out with my sisters doesn't make me feel very special."

Ranma ignored her.

"I don't know very much about dating," he said, "and Naruto's no help either. I was wondering if you would help me plan the first date, Kasumi? That would give me a starting place.

"I'd be happy to, Ranma," Kasumi said with a pleasant smile. "Would I be helping you with your date with Akane?"

"Actually, I thought you might like to help with your own date," Ranma said.

"That would be fine too," Kasumi said.

"I thought I could take Kasumi out on Friday, Nabiki on Saturday, and Akane on Sunday. Does that work for all of you?"

All three of them agreed. Kasumi acted pleasant but distant, Nabiki sly, and Akane disturbed.

Ranma was glad it was over. He let his boy transformation lapse. Nabiki and Kasumi left back for the house. Akane remained behind.

"Something wrong, Akane?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, nothing really," she said absently. "I'd mostly forgotten that one of us is supposed to marry Ranma. I barely think of her as a boy."

Ranma fought down the old instinct to loudly proclaim his maleness. He did not think it would help.

"To be honest, I'd rather just ignore the engagement too," Ranma said instead, "but Imouto pointed out, and I agree, that the old men would pick the worst candidate if I did nothing."

"Why do you say that?" Akane asked.

"If there's one thing I've learned in my life," Ranma said wearily, "is that if there's a way to mess things up for me, Pop will find it."

"You're one of my best friends, Ranma," said Akane, "even after only a couple of weeks. I'm worried that going on a date will ruin things."

"Don't sweat it, either of you," Naruto said. "Just have fun. I say it's more important to be friends. Even if you do have to get married in a couple of years, if you're friends everything else will work out."

"I suppose," Akane said slowly, "that there are worse things than marrying a good friend, but I've always wanted to marry for love."

Ranma grunted. "Pop barely let me have friends with all the moving around we did. I never had time to think of anything like love. The one time I asked about it, Pop beat me and told me to stop asking girly questions."

"How did that come up?" Naruto asked, fascinated.

"I used to look at manga in stores sometimes. Pop would never let me buy any. One time I glanced through a girl manga. I was too young to know I wasn't supposed to." He giggled. Then stopped abruptly once he heard the sound that came out of him. "Pop was furious."

Naruto and Akane laughed. Ranma joined in again with a more "manly" chuckle.

* * *

That evening, when they were getting ready for bed, Ranma said quietly to Naruto, "I won't splash you anymore if you want to be a boy more often."

Naruto's face lit up, "Thanks, Neechan," she said, "but I don't really mind anymore."

"But you said. . ."

"It's true that I would rather be your brother, but I like the closeness that the curse brings us more," Naruto said.

"We could still be close. . ." Ranma started.

"It wouldn't be the same," Naruto said. "There's something extra to being near someone who looks just like you. What was it that we said to Shaanpuu? A shared burden has made us sisters? You're my first real friend, Neechan. Being a girl for that is not a sacrifice to me."

"You aren't quite my first friend, Imouto, but you aren't far from it." Ranma laughed. "Before I met you, I would've counted Ryouga a friend. To tell the truth, the only real friend I had before was Uchan and I only was with him for a couple of weeks. I've been friends with Akane just as long now."

"I appreciate the gesture, Neechan," Naruto said with tears threatening to fall. She latched onto him in a hug. "But don't worry about it."

The hug felt weird and it emphasized that they were both girls since their bodies were near identical and their chests lined up, but Ranma decided he liked it. Not that he would not be embarrassed if his sister did it in public, but in private it was nice. He hugged her back.

* * *

Late the next afternoon, Thursday, Ranma and Naruto were sparring in the Tendou yard, when they heard a loud "Sisters!"

They stopped and turned around. Shaanpuu was waving at them from on top the wall that surrounded the Tendou property. Akane, who had been watching them, joined the two sisters.

"Shaanpuu!" Naruto said, "What are you doing here?"

"This one come to see sisters!" the bubbly Amazon said. "Mother came to look for husband, so this one comes too!"

"Ero-senin isn't here right now," Naruto offered, "but he should be back in a few weeks."

Naruto noticed that Ranma had gone still and that something was bothering her. "You alright, Neechan?" he asked her.

Ranma shook herself. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Naruto could see that she was not, but could not see the cause unless it was Shaanpuu. The Amazon had not had this effect on her in China though, so he did not think that was it.

"Shaanpuu," Naruto said, "this is our friend Akane. We're staying with her family. Her father and Ranma's are friends. Akane, this is our Amazon friend Shaanpuu from China that we told you about. She adopted us as sisters."

"Hello!" Shaanpuu greeted Akane. "Happy to meet friend of Sisters."

Akane returned the greeting.

"What wrong with Sister Ran?" Shaanpu asked.

Ranma shook her head again. "It's nothing, Shaanpuu. I just have some sense that there's a _feline_ around." She said the word with distaste.

"Oh!" Shaanpuu said. "I know why. After Sisters leave, I want to be close to Sisters, so I go to Jusenkyo. I look for spring Sisters fall in, but fall in different spring. But very close! This one like Sisters now!"

Shaanpuu's features distorted as she grew fur and a muzzle. She looked like an upright, humanoid housecat with a tail that split into two. "See!" she said proudly.

Ranma started shaking in fear. Naruto could _feel_ her fear.

"Stay back, demon!" Ranma said shakily. She started to back away.

"Sister Ran," Shaanpuu said, startled. "This one is Sister Shaanpuu."

"Shaanpuu," Naruto said. "She's always been a little weird about cats and she's _terrified_. Maybe you should change back?"

"This one never hurt Sister," she said. "See?" She jumped forward and grabbed Ranma in a hug.

Ranma shrieked in terror. Naruto could feel the terror in his mind. Somehow he knew it came from Ranma. A waking nightmare of a dark pit enveloped him. He could hear hissing and mewling all around him. Sharp pains and a rancid smell enveloped him.

 _Naruto, Ranma_ , he heard his father. _It's not real._

 _Please, throw it off_ , his mother said. _It's not even a real cat. She's your friend._

Naruto fought through the images. He heard a loud yowling and hissing.

Then an old, familiar voice said, "Shaanpuu, change back this instant! Back away slowly."

 _Reach toward where the pain came from and help your sister, Naruto_ , he heard his father say.

Naruto reached toward where the pain came from. He felt a wild, animalistic personality on top and a scared, frightened personality hiding underneath. He broadcasted comfort to both of them. The one on top seemed to recognize him and playfully welcomed him. He mentally approached the scared personality. _Neechan, it's Imouto. I'll protect you. Please don't be scared._

 _Imouto?_ the scared personality said. _I hate the pit. Please save me from the pit._

 _There's no pit. It's only Shaanpuu,_ he responded. _You remember Shaanpuu? Our Amazon Sister? She's cursed like us, but she won't hurt you_.

 _Daddy kept throwing me in the pit_ , the timid Ranma said. _Make him stop._

 _It's over. You're safe._

He mentally gave both Ranmas hugs. The animalistic, playful Ranma calmed down and seemed to go to sleep. The shaking of the child-like, scared Ranma also gradually calmed down and went to sleep. Naruto let himself snap back to himself.

He opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground with giant-fox Ranma curled up next to him with her head on his chest with his arms around her neck. She was dozing peacefully. He looked around and could see the entire Tendou family looking on concerned. A little ways apart, Shaanpuu stood with Geru and Koron. Genma was nowhere to be seen.

"Could someone get some hot water for Shaanpuu?" Naruto asked. "Ranma could sense the cat in her even when she looked human."

"I'll do it," Kasumi said.

"What was that about, Uzumaki?" Nabiki asked.

"I'm not sure," Naruto admitted. "I felt her terror and then had a waking nightmare about a dark pit with pains and sounds and noises." He shuddered. "I made contact with her and she said something about her father throwing her in the pit."

"The Cat Fist," Koron hissed. "That idiot panda trained her in the Cat Fist! It's a wonder that she's sane at all!"

Ranma shifted and then moved her head off of Naruto. She shifted back to human. He latched onto her around her waist from behind. She shuddered slightly.

"There's no technique too dangerous or too insane for Pop to try to teach me," she said bitterly.

Kasumi returned with the kettle normally used to change Genma back from a panda. She handed it to Shaanpuu, who doused herself. She did not change outwardly, but Naruto could _feel_ that something was different about her.

"Thanks, Shaanpuu," Ranma said. "I'm sorry I freaked out, but I really can't help it."

"This one sorry too, Sister," the Amazon said. "This one only want to share gift with Sister."

"What does this Cat Fist training entail, Saotome?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma shuddered and then laughed bitterly. Naruto tightened his hug.

"You dig a pit and starve some _cats_. Then you wrap the trainee in fish products and tie him up and throw him in the pit with the _cats_. You leave the trainee in for a few hours. You repeat every day until the trainee learns it. Pop must have done it to every day for three weeks until I snapped. I almost killed him when it happened. Luckily, an old woman found me and cared for me until I came out of it. It's happened several times since. Usually, the only way I break out of it is if I fall asleep in a safe place."

Something snapped in Naruto. "I'm going to kill him! No true parent could do that to their child! He's a monster!"

"Let it go, Imouto," she said.

"But Neechan. . ." he protested.

"Let. It. Go," she repeated. "What's done is done. I can handle it most of the time. I only lost control when she grabbed me."

"Fine," he finally said. "But he's still going to pay somehow."

"Why do you think I beat on him so cheerfully?" Ranma said with a smirk. "I'm all for people beating on the Panda, but nothing permanent, okay?" She looked at Naruto and then the Amazons.

"As you wish, Great Granddaughter," said Koron. "But he will not do anything similar again."

Ranma smirked. "I can take care of myself nowadays. I know better than to listen to everything he says."

"Jusenkyo," Naruto said under cover of a fake cough.

Ranma frowned then said, "I'm sorry this had to ruin our reunion, Shaanpuu. I really am glad to see you again."

Shaanpuu, who had been looking discouraged, brightened. "This one happy you feeling better, Sister."

"I think I'm going to go inside and rest. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" Ranma said with a strained smile.

Naruto followed his sister inside.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Akane is less pervert-smash happy because Naruto and Ranma shielded her from Kuno and the horde. Also, Kasumi is more proper about things and so doesn't snuggle Jaki-chan against her chest or sleep with him like Akane did P-chan in Canon.


	11. Chapter 11: Everyone Wants to Kill Genma

Ranma went straight to bed after the exhausting ordeal with Shaanpuu's curse. Naruto followed her. Soon they were both at the seal-scape. For once, Ranma did not automatically change upon entering, instead she sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees. Her tails disappeared so that she could manage.

Naruto and his parents stood around her.

"I hate it," she said finally. "It's such a stupid weakness. Worse, I have the potential to really hurt someone without meaning to. I've only succumbed to the Cat Fist about a dozen times, but I usually end up mauling Pop pretty badly."

Naruto's mom snorted. "That monster deserved it."

Ranma chuckled. "I won't argue that he doesn't deserve it, but he's not a monster, he's just stupid, stubborn, and lazy."

"A dangerous combination," said Naruto's dad. "Always looking to take any short cut offered without looking at the consequences."

"That's Pop to a tee," Ranma said. She rested her head on her knees and said, "Every once and a while I've heard rumors about what used to happen before the technique got banned. Most people who didn't die went permanently berserk. They never came out of the madness. I know I'm incredibly lucky, but it doesn't feel like it. I'm scared that one of these times I won't come out of it."

Kushina grabbed Ranma's hand and pulled her up and into a hug. Naruto latched onto her from behind.

Ranma started to sniffle. "Men aren't supposed to cry!" she said.

"Who told you that?" Minato asked. "Your idiot father? When has he ever been right? Do you want to grow up to be like him?"

Ranma shook her head.

Minato put a hand on her shoulder. "Look at me, Ranma," he said and then waited until she did. "I've cried when I've been sad or even when I was really happy and I was one of the most respected men in our village."

"It's true," Kushina said.

"I get what you're saying and I should know better than to trust what the Panda says," Ranma said sniffling, "but I can't help feeling weak."

"Is that why you didn't change?" Kushina asked. "Because you feel girls are allowed to cry?"

Ranma nodded.

Kushina smiled at her. "While it's true that on average more women show more emotion than men, the men that are the happiest are the ones that are the most balanced emotionally. If you hold it all inside, you'll be emotionally constipated. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Ranma giggled and then covered her mouth.

Kushina reached up and removed Ranma's hand. "I wouldn't worry about giggling. Just do what comes naturally. Don't stifle yourself. You're young. Have fun. No one should expect you to be girly, but that doesn't mean you should act over-the-top macho. Being a tomboy is fun. I was one of the biggest when I was your age."

"It's true," Minato said with a smirk.

"Oh, behave," his wife replied with a light slap to his bottom. "You like tomboys."

"That's also true."

"But what if my body wants me to do something I'll regret later?" Ranma asked.

"That's something you'll have to keep in mind," Kushina said seriously, "but giggling shouldn't be one of those things you'll regret later. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. Everyone has to keep those kind of things in mind, not just people with a shape-changing curse."

The four of them stood quietly with Naruto and his mom hugging Ranma.

Their feel-good moment was interrupted by a bellow from the Kyuubi. "Red! Come here, Little Red Vixen. I have a bone to pick with you!"

Naruto and his mom disengaged themselves. The Kyuubi rarely interacted with them, preferring to keep to itself.

Ranma rolled her eyes and said, "Let's go see what the big grump wants."

As they came to the Kyuubi's gate, it roared. "Have you no pride, Red? It is _unconscionable_ for a fox to cower in front of a housecat!"

"I have a name, you know!" Ranma snarled back.

"You haven't earned a name, _Red_ ," the Kyuubi sneered. "My avatar should not be _scared_ of a _domestic_ animal!"

"My _father_ ," she snarled, "dug a pit and filled it with starving cats and threw me in there covered in fish products. He repeated it until I went crazy. I was _six_!"

"And what have you done since to fix it?" the giant fox asked.

"Pop tried desensitization, but it only succeeded in triggering the Cat Fist," Ranma answered. "He stopped after a few tries."

The Kyuubi glared at Naruto. "Gold, fix Red, or I will torment you both."

The fox then withdrew from the gate, signaling an end to the discussion. They heard one last comment as it withdrew. "Feel free to slaughter the worthless man who did this to you."

"Well isn't it a bundle of joy," Ranma snarled.

* * *

The next day, Ranma was struggling to stay awake in English class. He was wondering if he should just give in. It seemed to irritate Akane when he did and he had few enough friends that he wasn't willing to ignore her wishes for something as stupid as school.

English was by far his easiest class. He had not been that good at it before, but it seemed to come easy now. Naruto had picked it up almost as fast, despite never having even heard of it before being enrolled at Furinkan.

He could almost feel the boredom radiating off his fellow students. Their English teacher was one of the more monotone teachers they had. He had noticed that he was also a lot better at reading people. He did not even have to be looking at them. The better he knew them the easier they were to read. He did not even have to try with Naruto. Pop and Akane were pretty easy as well, with the rest of the Tendous following them. This improved skill was one of the reasons he found Kunou so disgusting. He could feel the lust and possessiveness rolling off the creep.

Naruto interrupted his musings. _Neechan, can you hear me?_

He looked over to where his adopted sister was sitting. _Imouto?_ he tried to speak to her mentally.

She smiled at him. _You did hear me, didn't you? I haven't gotten a mental response back from you yet. Have you tried?_

He nodded nearly imperceptibly.

 _Good. Yesterday, I could feel your fear and was able to trace it back and comfort you. I'm concentrating on that part of my mind. Can you feel the part of your mind that my mental voice is coming from?_

He thought about it and concentrated. _Can you hear me, Imouto?_

 _I can_ , Naruto responded. _Awesome!_

Ranma grinned. At least school would not be so boring now.

* * *

When they got back from school, they found Shaanpuu waiting for them.

"Hello, Sisters! Hello, Tendou Akane!" the Chinese girl bubbled.

The three returned her greeting. Ranma was pleased to note that he was not feeling the vibe from her that he had yesterday.

Shaanpuu ran in and hugged Ranma and then Naruto. She bowed to Akane.

"Listen, Shaanpuu," he said. "I want to apologize about yesterday."

Shaanpuu smiled at him. "Is no need. Is not fault of sister. Is fault of Stupid Panda Man."

Ranma laughed. "True, true."

"Sisters plan to stay here, no?" Shaanpuu asked.

Ranma nodded. "Pop looks like he wants to settle down here."

"I'll be here for a few months, at least," Naruto said. "Eventually, I'll have to go back to my home village."

Ranma frowned. He did not like to be reminded that his 'sister' would be leaving eventually.

Naruto seemed to sense his mood, because she added, "But I'll be back for visits periodically. I wouldn't abandon my neechan."

"Great-grandmother and Mother thought so. Lease restaurant. Nekohanten. Ramen. Too, too tasty. Sisters come visit? Tendou Akane may come too."

Ranma nodded. "Sounds fine to me."

Naruto and Akane both agreed.

The Nekohanten was a moderate size. It had a residence on the second floor. Muusu were working on setting it up.

"Stupid Muusu follow this one to Jusenkyo," said Shaanpu. "Get goose curse."

Shaanpuu snickered. Naruto and Ranma followed suit.

"You don't like him?" Akane asked.

"Muusu friend when younger," Shaanpuu explained. "This one not hate, exactly, but is too, too annoying. Stupid Goose Boy want date this one. This one no want."

"Shaanpuu hits him and calls him names," Naruto said, "but he keeps chasing her. You can't help but admire his persistence." Naruto was a little uneasy about the whole thing. It reminded him of his relationship with Sakura. It was quite a bit different looking at it from the viewpoint of a friend of the girl being pursued.

Shaanpuu shook her head. "This one tell him never. This one mean never. Very annoying."

"He sounds no better than Kunou," Akane said.

"He's not that bad," Ranma said. "He doesn't physically bother Shaanpuu, other than trying to hug her, but he wears his glasses so rarely he usually 'misses.' The worst thing he does is try and chase away all of her suitors, but since she hasn't found one she likes, that's not too bad. For now, he's not more than an annoyance, but I can see it getting much worse."

"Like half annoying suitor and half annoying little brother?" Akane asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Shaanpuu said. "Exactly that! More the first now, but exactly that."

Ranma looked at Muusu slyly. The boy still had not noticed them. "Do you know what would really bother him? It might even get him to back off."

"What? What?" Shaanpuu asked excitedly.

"Call him 'Otouto' every chance you get," [ _little brother_ ] Ranma said.

Ranma smiled while Akane giggled and Shaanpuu bounced and clapped animatedly. Naruto was pensive. He wanted to sympathize with Muusu. His own Ninja Creed was based around never giving up, but after seeing Kunou in action he decided that the blind Chinese boy should be more respectful of Shaanpuu's wishes.

 _You alright, Imouto?_ Ranma asked mentally.

 _Yeah,_ Naruto responded with a mental sigh. _Just thinking about something. I'll tell you later_.

"That's a very cruel plan, Daughter," Jeiru said from behind them with a smile. "It is not the Amazon way, but I like it anyway."

Ranma smirked. "Thanks, Jeiru."

"Call me Mom, Ran," Jeiru said. "You too, Naru."

"Okay, Ma," Naruto said. "This is our friend Tendou Akane. Her dad is an old friend of the Old Panda. We're staying with her family."

"Nice to meet you, Akane," Jeiru said with a brief bow.

Akane returned her bow and said, "Nice to meet you too."

"Grandmother," Jeiru called. "Ran and Naru are here!"

The old woman hopped out of the kitchen area on her cane. "Good afternoon, Great-Granddaughters," she said.

"Good afternoon, Elder," they replied.

"This is our friend, Tendou Akane," Ranma added.

"Shaanpuu, you're back!" Muusuu yelled. He ran up to Akane and tried to hug her.

"Pervert!" she shrieked and uppercut him in the chin, sending him back a couple of meters.

"Silly Otouto," Shaanpuu said. "Put on glasses. You no hug Friend Akane without introduction."

"Otouto?" Muusu asked, confused.

"Yes. You is otouto of this one. Nothing more."

"But I love you, Shaanpuu," Muusu proclaimed.

"This one like you, but only as Otouto," Shaanpuu said. "More is gross." She shuddered for effect.

"I'll get you to change your mind, Shaanpuu!" Muusu proclaimed.

"Incest is gross!" Shaanpuu said firmly.

Muusu frowned and then retreated upstairs.

As soon as he left, everyone broke into laughter.

"Who came up with that gem?" Koron asked.

"Sister Ran!" Shaanpuu exclaimed happily.

"You are a cruel and clever woman, Great-granddaughter," Koron said. "I like it."

Ranma looked confused, as if she were not sure whether to be complimented or insulted.

"When will your restaurant be ready, Baachan?" Naruto asked.

"Tomorrow evening," Koron said. "Would either of you be interested in helping out a little? I doubt that Ran's worthless father gives her any pocket change and if Son-in-law is gone for a bit, then you probably need some too, Naru."

 _You could use some if you were going to be taking the Tendou sisters out, couldn't you, Neechan?_ Naruto sent.

 _Yeah,_ Ranma replied. _I have a little, but not very much_.

"I could also throw in some training in some Amazon techniques," Koron added.

"Okay, you've sold me," Ranma said.

"Me too," Naruto added.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to work a whole lot," Ranma cautioned, "because of school and training Imouto and Akane, but I could work a couple of hours a day."

"Will you be available tomorrow evening?" the Elder asked.

"Not me," admitted Ranma. "Pop wants me to marry Akane or one of her sisters. I'm taking each of them out on dates this weekend."

"I can do it for a few hours, at least, Baachan," Naruto said.

"You can bring your date here, Daughter," Jeiru said. "We won't charge you since you're family."

"I'll keep that in mind. It sounds like a good idea, but I'm going to talk to Akane's oldest sister this evening about what to do, since I don't have any dating experience. I can definitely come help during lunch on Saturday and Sunday, though."

Naruto noticed that Akane had a flat look on her face, as if she was trying not to show her displeasure about something.

* * *

After dinner, Kasumi took Ranma up to her room to talk. Just as they were about to start, Nabiki knocked on the door.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind." He wondered if Akane would join them.

"Come in then, Imouto," Kasumi said.

Kasumi and Nabiki sat on the bed. Ranma knelt on the floor.

"Like I said before," Ranma said, "I don't know anything about dating."

"Nothing at all?" Nabiki said with a raised eyebrow.

Ranma snorted. "The Panda didn't want me to know anything. When I was little I may have seen a couple of things in manga, but the Panda stopped me from looking at anything that wasn't a fighting one like Dragonball. Might as well assume I'm a blank slate there."

"Dinner is a pretty traditional part of a date," Kasumi said.

He brightened. "Do you like Chinese? I know a new restaurant and the cooks are good." They had eaten well during their time at Koron's house in the Joketsuzoku village.

"That would be fine, Ranma," Kasumi said.

"The other part of the date is usually entertainment, like a movie or dancing," Nabiki said. "I know a club that caters to teenagers. That would be my preference."

"Akane would prefer something active that wasn't dancing," Kasumi said.

"Like what?" Ranma asked.

"Skating or maybe an arcade," Kasumi said.

"What about you, Kasumi?" Ranma asked.

"There's a concert in the park on Friday," she said. "I was wanting to go, but it's more fun to go with someone else."

"Those are all good ideas," Ranma said. He was not sure about some of them, but doing it once would not hurt, right? "I'd rather not make a fool of myself trying to skate for the first time on a date. Can you tell me how to get to the arcade?"

Kasumi wrote down the address and directions on how to get there.

Ranma thanked the two sisters and then went to go find Naruto.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Yes, understanding languages and basic empathy are skills Ranma and Naruto pick up by being fox youkai. The empathy works best in the two primary forms (foxgirl and giant fox) than it does in the secondary forms (girl and fox) which work better than in any other shape-shifted form. This works similar to the strength and speed bonus they get for being youkai.


	12. Chapter 12: Three Dates

That night, Ranma and Naruto went running as foxes. When they stopped for a breather, Ranma asked, "What was with that melancholy look at the Nekohanten about?"

Naruto sighed. "I've told you about my friend Sakura, right?"

Ranma nodded. "Yep."

"I have a bit of a crush on her," Naruto admitted, "but she only has eyes for our teammate Sasuke, who in turn ignores or insults her. If I'm honest about it, Sakura treats me about the same as Shaanpuu treats Muusu. My ninja creed is to never give up, so I've kept asking her out, even though she rejects me harshly. After what happened with Shaanpuu and Muusu today, I'm not sure that's the right idea."

Ranma looked at his sister. "Does your ninja creed mean you can never change your mind?"

"Not exactly," Naruto said. "It's just that everyone has always told me I'll never succeed. I want to be able to prove them wrong!"

"It seems to me," Ranma said, "that you should do what _you_ want to do, not what other people _don't want_ you to do. See the difference?"

"Maybe," she responded.

"Listen," Ranma said, "the way you're talking the surest way I can make sure you do something is to tell you that you can't do it. If Nabiki ever figured out your ninja creed, you would be sunk."

Naruto's tail started whipping around agitatedly. "You're right!"

"The way I figure," Ranma said, "you should think about why you like this Sakura periodically. If the reasons are still there, go for it. If not, don't. You shouldn't keep chasing her simply because you always have."

"That sounds like good advice, Neechan," she said.

"I think you also should look at Muusu. Do you think he's ever going to get Shaanpuu, if he keeps doing what he's doing?" Ranma said.

"Never in a million years," Naruto said with a yip of laughter.

"One thing I know from martial arts that I think applies to life in general is this," Ranma said, "don't keep doing something that doesn't work and expect it to suddenly work. If what you're doing with the girl isn't working, try something else."

"I kind of already knew that," Naruto said, "but the problem is that I don't know what else to do, so I keep trying the same thing."

Ranma barked with laughter. "I can't help you there. I don't know anything about dating girls, either. Ask your mom or dad?"

"Neechan!" Naruto squealed. "How desperate would I have to be to ask my parents about dating!?"

"Aren't you that desperate?" Ranma teased.

"Not quite," Naruto muttered.

 _Too late!_ Kushina's voice sounded in their minds with a cackle.

The tails of both foxes dropped. Hopefully Naruto's mom could be diverted. No way did Ranma want to experience the awkwardness that that conversation promised.

Both foxes' musings on the embarrassment to come was interrupted by a young woman's scream. After sharing a look, they charged toward the scream.

"Jiraiya told me to keep a low profile," Naruto said as they ran on all fours.

"If they can't trace it back to us, does it matter?" Ranma asked. He shifted to his tiger-sized, three-tailed form.

They found three muggers threatening a woman a few years older than they were. The woman was on the ground with one of the three looming over her.

"Just relax and enjoy it," the thug said with a leer.

Hearing this anger burned in both foxes and foxfire coated their heads, feet, and tails.

The thugs turned at the growling emanating from their throats. They backed off some. One of them pulled out a switchblade.

"How cliché," Ranma sneered.

"Woah!" one of the hench thugs said. "It talks!"

Ranma leaped at the knife-wielding thug and caught his wrist in his mouth. He shook it until the knife dropped. In the meantime, Naruto had pounced the head thug. The third had run off.

"You should feel lucky I don't want to get your blood in my fur," Ranma growled. "But if I ever see you doing this type of thing again, I'll emasculate you and then deal with taking a bath, understand?"

The two remaining thugs quickly ran off.

"Thank you, Ladies Kitsune," the woman said.

"No problem," Ranma said. "We hate bullies."

"If you don't mind being discrete about this?" Naruto asked. "We'd like to keep a low profile."

"Who would believe me?" the woman asked.

"Take care of yourself," Ranma said.

The two ran off and then changed into their smaller forms when they were out of sight. They headed back toward the Tendou Dojo.

* * *

The next evening was the first of Ranma's three dates. Kasumi had recommended that they dress in nice casual clothes, so he was wearing a variation of his usual outfit that had dragons embroidered on the sleeves and legs in gold-colored thread that had been a gift from Jeiru.

Kasumi came downstairs a few minutes after he did. She wore a nice-looking floral dress. It was similar to her normal outfit except that it was missing the apron she normally wore.

They made small talk as they walked to the Nekohanten. Banners announced "Grand Opening." They entered and Naruto showed them to a table with a smile. The dining area was moderately full. Shaanpuu bounced her way to them.

"Hi, Shaanpuu," Ranma said.

Shaanpuu started and then looked at him more closely. "Oh, Sister Ran. Looking good. Makes this one regret making you sister."

Ranma chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"This is Tendou Kasumi," Ranma said, introducing his date. "She's Akane's sister."

"Hello, Tendou Kasumi," Shaanpuu chirped.

"This is Shaanpuu, my Amazon sister," he said, finishing the introduction.

Ranma and Kasumi ordered. They were both surprised to see bowls of ramen flying through the air, only to be caught by Shaanpuu without spilling a drop. Ranma smiled. Maybe working here would not be so bad after all. The food was as excellent as Ranma remembered from the Amazon village.

After the meal they walked to the park. The band had already started playing when they arrived. The music was a very weird alternative style with emphasis on dissonance. Ranma did not care for it. He did not picture this being Kasumi's style.

After two songs, he said to her, "Do you like this type of music?"

Kasumi, who had been smiling demurely, said, "It's not my favorite, but. . ."

Ranma chuckled. "You're just trying to be polite, aren't you? How about we go find a place to talk where it isn't so loud?"

Kasumi's demure smile did not falter while she nodded her assent, but he could see a twinkle in her eye that intrigued him. They moved to another part of the park.

"Thank you, Ranma," Kasumi said as they found a bench to sit on. "Music in the park is kind of hit or miss. It's been a while since I've come, but the quality varies widely. Unfortunately, I think this evening's is near the bottom of the scale."

"It's fine," Ranma said. "To be honest I don't really have a favorite type of music. The Old Man thought music was a distraction from the Art. Most of what I know is anime theme songs, to be honest."

Kasumi laughed with a clear joyous sound which was different from her normal demure giggle. He smiled in response. He vowed to make her laugh like that again.

"Do you have any life goals, Kasumi?" he asked.

"At one point I thought about going into nursing, since I like helping people," she said, "but I've never gotten the opportunity to go to college."

"Why not?" he asked.

"My family needs the help," she said. "The others are really quite helpless in the kitchen and they're all so busy. . ."

Ranma noticed the faint trace of weariness in her eyes.

"What about you, Ranma?" she asked.

"I love the Art. I'm going to be the best!" he said.

"Are you going to teach then?" she asked.

"Huh," he said, "I haven't really thought about it."

"Do you want a family?" she asked.

"I guess," he said. "Not right away, but yeah."

"You'll need to have some sort of career to support your family. There isn't really any call for wandering martial artists anymore."

"Pop and I have done just fine as that," Ranma said.

"Do you really want to subject a son or daughter to the life you've led," she asked. "Some of your stories imply it isn't a very nice life."

Ranma was thoughtful. "Yeah, you're right. No way am I turning into my pop."

Kasumi smiled at him. "You have a few years to figure out what you want to do."

They talked for a while longer, before Ranma's "boy time" got low and they headed back. Before long they stood in front of the house.

Ranma saw a hint of pride in Kasumi's eyes as she looked at the house.

"I had a pleasant time, Ranma," Kasumi said.

"Me too," Ranma said. "It was nice to get to know you a little better, Kasumi."

They both entered the house. Nabiki quickly cornered Kasumi, while Naruto grabbed Ranma's hand with a smile and dragged him up to their room.

* * *

The next evening had Ranma waiting for Nabiki. Since tonight's date required money, he had raided his pop's money stash. He figured the Old Man owed him since the engagement was his idea anyway. He was dressed in a similar outfit to what he had worn the previous evening, but this one was decorated with phoenixes. It was also a gift from Jeiru.

Nabiki came down wearing shorts and a tank top. This was similar to her normal outfits, except that she was wearing makeup and a few items of jewelry.

Nabiki had a similar reaction to the Nekohanten that Kasumi had. "This is quite the show, Saotome," she said. Ranma had worked there earlier in the day. It was not easy to do, even with Ranma's natural athleticism.

"You can call me Ranma, Nabiki," he said. "Calling me by my family name makes me think you're talking to my pop, and I'd rather not be identified with him."

She smirked. "Fine, I can't say that I blame you."

"Besides," he said with a smirk, "calling you Tendou would be too confusing."

Ranma and Nabiki continued verbally fencing throughout dinner as small talk. Ranma admitted to himself that she had a sharp, predatory cunning to her that resonated with something within himself.

He also admitted that he would not be as adept with the verbal sparring if it were not for seal training with Naruto's parents. Seals were complicated and both Ranma and Naruto had had to sharpen their mental processes in order to make sense of them. Talks with Minato and Kushina had also interested Ranma in other things not strictly related to martial arts, such as physics. You could do martial arts without knowing any formal physics, but physics explained things that he had noticed. But to really do anything with physics, you needed math. He wondered why his pop had always downplayed academics, especially math.

After dinner, they walked to the dance club. As they walked, Ranma asked, "What do you want to do after High School?"

"I'd like to get into a good university," Nabiki said.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here," Ranma said.

Nabiki sighed. "Furinkan has a very lousy reputation. I'm probably going to be able to get into a top tier one and there's also the fact that we can't really afford to go to a private one."

"Yeah, I wondered about a High School without entrance exams and how good that would actually look," he said.

"Technically, Furinkan has them, they're just ridiculously easy to get waived," she said, "and most universities know that."

"What do you want to study?" he asked.

"Finance, or maybe business," she answered. "How about you?"

"Pop never let me think about what would be next," Ranma admitted. "He always talked like we'd be wandering martial artists forever. I think I'd like to settle down. Being a martial arts sensei seems like a no-brainer, but I need to think on it."

"You know," Nabiki said, "you're a little bit different than I thought at first. When we first met, you seemed like a dumb jock."

"I will admit that I'm pretty ignorant, but I'm not stupid," Ranma said. "The ignorance is not really by choice. Pop wants me ignorant for one or more of his schemes. If I were you and your sisters, I would make sure that if I do marry one of you, he can't steal your inheritance."

"We probably should make a pact between the four of us that we don't follow through with the marriage pact until we're 20," she said. "I think that getting married automatically emancipates you, but there might be a loophole. I'll look into it, but I think we should agree to not marry underage regardless."

Ranma nodded. "The Old Man is too anxious for this "joining of the schools" for there not to be some scheme."

"It may be as simple as him thinking you'll let him run the finances of the dojo," Nabiki suggested, "since he's tried to keep you stupid about math."

Ranma snorted. "He'd be in for a rude surprise, since I don't trust him at all to handle money. Do you know why your dad is so into it?"

Nabiki sighed. "I think he wants to see the School continue, but he doesn't think he can manage it himself anymore."

"So he wants to co-opt Pop's heir?" Ranma asked.

Nabiki nodded. "Yeah, Akane's really not happy about that. She's way into marital arts, but Dad hasn't trained her seriously for a while, if ever. She pictures herself as the heir to the School, but it looks like Dad has just discarded her out of hand."

"That stinks," he replied.

Nabiki grimaced. "It's way too common. There's a certain mindset that girls are only good for arranging alliances and not for actually inheriting."

"Pop certainly thinks that way," Ranma said. "He hasn't stopped harping on me since he got me cursed about how I'm weak now that I'm a girl most of the time. The fact that I can beat him as a girl is immaterial to him."

"What a moron," Nabiki said.

"No argument from me," Ranma said.

The club was full of teenagers. Ranma found that he liked dancing, even though this was his first time. He was a quick learner, since a lot of the moves were like a short segment of a kata. He and Nabiki danced with others besides each other. Ranma found that a few of the girls he danced with slipped him phone numbers, but he discarded them. He did not need any complications on top of the Tendou marriage agreement.

By the end of the date, he had used up most of the money that he had swiped from his pop. The date had been expensive, even with dinner provided for by the Amazons. Nabiki seemed to have an innate sense of how to get the most out of the date, between snacks and a "memento" or two. Regardless, he had had fun and he thought Nabiki had too.

"You're not so bad, Saotome," she said as they walked up to the Tendou home, "for a dumb jock."

"You're not so bad either, Tendou," he replied, "for a heartless mercenary."

They both laughed.

* * *

For the last date, Ranma wore an outfit with foxes embroidered on it. The outfit made him nervous, being a little too close for comfort, but it had been a gift from Jeiru, like the other two. They were his only "good" outfits. Akane was dressed like she usually was out of school in a simple blue sleeveless dress over a white blouse. It was actually pretty close to the school uniform.

Ranma had swiped more money from his father's stash to pay for the arcade. Luckily, it had a flat entrance fee, with unlimited plays once you got in.

Akane seemed to enjoy the dinner show put on by the Amazons, but she appeared to be out of sorts. Ranma left it alone while they were at the restaurant, but once they left he asked her, "Is something wrong? You don't seem your usual happy self."

Akane looked at him startled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma. It's nothing against you—not really. It's just that the whole marriage arrangement makes me uneasy. It's like Dad doesn't trust me to carry on the Tendou School."

"I don't think it's personal, Akane," Ranma said. "I think he's just caught up in tradition."

"I know," Akane said. "It's still stupid. I could be just as good as you, if he trained me."

Ranma grimaced. "I don't know that you would want to go through what I have to be as good as I am."

Akane stared ahead pensively. "Maybe, but I could still be good enough."

Ranma nodded. "You have good instinct and strength. With some decent instruction, you could be quite good."

They walked in silence for a good bit, before Akane blurted, "This whole date makes me uncomfortable. You're one of my best girl friends. Going on a date with you seems perverted."

"You know I'm really a man, right?" Ranma said.

"I know it in my head, but I guess I block it off most of the time so that I don't have to think about the stupid engagement."

"Would you rather I changed so that we could make it a girls' night, instead?" he asked.

"Would you?" she said hopefully.

Ranma nodded and changed into his girl form with the age adjusted to what it was when they were at school.

"Thanks, Ranma," she said. "I know you'd rather be a guy, but it weirds me out."

After that the "date" went more smoothly as Akane cheered up. They spent most of their time at the playing fighting games with racing games thrown in once in a while for variety. They had fun discussing whether the moves the fighters in the games made would be possible in real life. Akane tended to be more skeptical than Ranma, but Ranma knew that some amazing things were possible with ki and that magic was real.

When they got near to the Tendou home, Akane said, "Can you change back so that our fathers don't know that we chickened out?"

Ranma nodded. "What about your sisters?" he asked.

She scowled. "They'll drag it out of me. They always seem to know when I'm hiding something."

He laughed. "Well, at least since you know they will, you won't stress over it as much."

When he got inside, Naruto grabbed him and pulled him up to their room again. Instead of asking him how it went, she said, "Head to bed. Mom wants to debrief you."

"Debrief me? What was this? A mission?"

"Wasn't it?" she returned.

* * *

Naruto quickly changed as he entered the mindscape. He bounced around as he waited for Ranma. Finally, Ranma appeared and changed. While he had been waiting for Ranma, his parents made their way over.

"Now that you've been out with all three sisters, what's the verdict?" Kushina asked.

Ranma sighed. "The verdict is that I'm more confused than ever. Nabiki managed to put herself in the running. Kasumi is more interesting than she appears on the surface. Akane, the one I identify with the most, would rather I just be a girl friend than a fiancé."

Naruto burst into laughter. "So what happened tonight?"

Ranma described the date.

Naruto shook his head. "I can't say that I blame her, really."

"Me either," Ranma admitted. "The ironic thing is that the easiest way to get what she wants is for her to marry me, but she seems to be against it out of pride. I feel kind of bad for her, if I marry one of her sisters since that means she won't inherit the dojo. It's kind of the same with Kasumi. She really loves the house and she's put so much into it. If I marry one of her sisters she gets turned out eventually. At least with Akane, I could hire her to work at the dojo. With Kasumi, it would be really insulting to hire her as a housekeeper."

"And Nabiki?" Naruto's mom asked.

"She doesn't strike me as the sentimental type. She might be upset that someone else inherited, just because of the monetary value, but not the property itself."

"If you had to rank them," Kushina asked, "how would they fall?"

Ranma sighed. "Kasumi, then Akane, then Nabiki, but I'm a long way from making a final choice."

"So, no change?" Naruto said.

"Nope, no change in preference after the dates," Ranma admitted, "but at least I think I know them better now."


	13. Chapter 13: Dreams and the Orochi

The next week was much like the previous except for three things.

The first thing was that Akane was more sulky than she usually was. Ranma thought it might have to do with the date reminding her that her father did not think she was good enough to inherit the Tendou School of Anything Goes. He frankly did not blame her. Sure, Akane was a little rough, but that was mostly her father's fault for not teaching her. Ranma found her an excellent student and she had already made great strides in improving her martial arts skills.

The second thing was that Ranma and Naruto had run into a second group of muggers during their night run. This time the victim was a middle aged woman. They freed her using their giant-fox forms. This made Naruto nervous.

"Ero-sennin told us to keep a low profile," he protested afterwards.

"Who would believe them?" Ranma said dismissively.

"Weird coincidences happen around me all the time," Naruto said.

"Huh, me too," Ranma admitted.

"I have a group of dangerous criminals after me due to the Fox. I'd like to avoid fox-related oddities being spread around," Naruto said.

"Those guys are back in the Elemental Nations, right?" Ranma said. "No way they'd find out about this. Besides, our 'giant' fox forms aren't that big compared to the Bijuu. I don't see how the connection could be made."

Naruto snorted. "Better safe than sorry."

"You worry too much, Imouto," Ranma said.

The third thing that happened was that Friday night Ranma succeeded in making his seals visible by concentrating on his chakra. The next afternoon, which was a half-day at school, Naruto taught Ranma the Leaf-Sticking Exercise.

Ranma succeeded in getting the leaf to stick to his forehead for about a minute by dinner time. The fathers took this as an excuse to celebrate about the "schools being joined." This irritated Ranma and the older Tendou girls, but Akane took it especially hard. She threw a small tantrum and hid in her room the rest of the night.

* * *

The next morning Akane did not come down for breakfast. Kasumi went up to check. She came downstairs with a worried expression on her face and a note in her hand. "Jaki-chan" trotted behind her.

"It seems that Akane did not take the celebration last night well," Kasumi said.

"What's the note say, Oneechan?" [ _older sister, informal, more respectful than Neechan_ ] Nabiki asked.

"It says, 'I'm going somewhere where I will be respected for my skills,'" Kasumi read.

Mr. Tendou started to wail. "My little baby has run away!"

"You _do_ realize this is your fault, Mr. Tendou, don't you?" Ranma drawled. He and Naruto were both enjoying their "boy time."

"My fault?" He briefly stopped before starting again. "My future son-in-law thinks my baby hates me!"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear the note? She says she doesn't feel respected."

"Boy!" Ranma's father shouted. "It's your fault for not keeping your fiancée happy!"

Ranma threw his father into the fish pond. "It hasn't been decided yet, Old Man!"

"Explain!" Mr. Tendou commanded, stopping his wailing.

"She told me she always thought she would inherit your School and Dojo. That you feel the need to give it to a stranger despite her hard work and wishes has really been bothering her."

Mr. Tendou looked guilty for about half a second, before saying, "I'm sorry that Akane feels that way, but a girl inheriting a martial arts School just isn't done."

 **The Art isn't for weak girls!** Ranma's father proclaimed on his sign board.

Ranma changed into her girl form. "I'm as good at the art as a girl as I am as a boy!"

Naruto thought she was better as a girl, if only due to the extra speed and strength her curse gave her.

She proceeded to pound the panda.

 **Magical girls don't count, Sailor Fox** , her father's sign read.

Ranma screamed in anger and punted her father out the door again. This time it looked like he would clear the compound's wall. Ranma was slowly coming to grips with her cursed form, but comparing her to something as girly as a sailor suited-warrior of love and justice was a sure-fire way to enrage her. Ranma changed back into a boy.

Nabiki came downstairs. Naruto had not noticed her leave.

"She left this clue," Nabiki said. She held up a postcard. The card said, "Ryugenzawa" in big letters on it. "This was sitting on her dresser."

"Didn't they show a TV special on that place earlier this week?" Naruto asked.

Nabiki nodded. "They run it periodically. It's a fascinating place. We visited there when we were younger. Akane loved it."

"Ranma," Mr. Tendou pleaded, "will you please go rescue my baby?"

Ranma sighed. "Fine! You coming, Imouto?"

"You bet, Neechan!" Naruto said.

Ranma glanced around and smirked. "Can we borrow Jaki-chan to help track Akane, Kasumi?" he asked the older girl.

He quickly snatched up the small dog and ran out the door before she could answer. Naruto followed.

The boy-turned-dog tried to bite Ranma, but the other cursed boy flicked him on the nose and said, "Stop it! If you think you're staying with Kasumi without supervision you have another thing coming, Bone Head."

The cursed dog growled and Ranma flicked his nose again.

 _Hate you_ , said Ryouga.

* * *

After a train ride, on top of the train—they did not have money for tickets. They arrived in Ryugenzawa village. By this time, Ranma and Naruto's "boy time" had worn off. Naruto took pity on Ryouga and obtained some hot water for him. Ranma asked around and found out that someone had seen a girl of Akane's description heading into the nearby forest.

When Ryouga tried to fight Ranma, Naruto intervened.

"You can fight with Neechan after we find Akane. The villagers say that there are giant creatures in the forest. Akane can usually look after herself, but this is an unusual situation. You wouldn't want Akane to get hurt, would you?"

Ryouga grimaced. "Akane is no Kasumi, but she is keeping my secret. She can't be all bad, even if she is friends with Ranma."

The three cursed boys headed into the forest. They saw a giant furry animal with a duck's beak and a broad tail.

"What's that thing?" Naruto asked.

"It's a platypus," Ryouga said, "but they're usually pretty small and I've only ever seen them in Spain before."

"Where's Spain?" asked Naruto.

Ryouga scratched his head and said, I think it's by Hokkaido."

"Idiot," Ranma said. "Spain is in Africa."

The platypus made a swipe at Ranma, but he jumped up and kicked it in the head, staggering it.

A boy ran up and shooed the giant animal off with a broom.

"Have you seen a dark-haired girl our age around here?" Naruto asked. "Her name is Akane."

The boy scratched his head and said, "I haven't seen any other girls around anytime recently."

They thanked the boy and kept looking.

About supper time they found a small cottage. When they knocked on the door, an old man answered. Naruto again asked about Akane.

Before the old man could answer, Akane appeared. "Ranma! Naruto! Ryouga! What are you doing here?"

"We came looking for you!" Ranma answered. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Akane sighed. "I hate feeling useless. My dad doesn't think I'm worthy of my dream. I hate seeing my dream going to someone else."

Ranma sighed. "Your dad is a bit of a traditionalist, but I'm sure we can work something out. If I do get the dojo, I'll hire you and make sure you're trained in your family School. If we can't work out something that you, me, and your sisters are all happy with, I'll back out of the arranged marriage."

"Really, Ranma?" Akane said. "What about family honor?"

Ranma snorted. "What family honor? Pop is a thief and a liar. If anything, denying the marriage connection will save your family honor."

"You can be an Uzumaki, Neechan, and come back to Konoha with me," Naruto offered.

"I'm not to that point yet, Imouto," Ranma said, "but thanks for the offer."

"Why'd you chose this place, Akane?" Naruto asked.

"When I was little, we came here and a boy saved my life. I wanted to see if I could do anything to repay him," she said. "I've found the boy, but he doesn't remember me—or much of anything else, to be honest."

The old man who had answered the door said, "Shinnosuke is a good boy, but he has a bad injury. The only thing keeping him alive is the Water of Life, but it ruins his memory."

"Anyway, I made some dinner for Shinnosuke and his grandfather," Akane said. "Want some?"

Ranma and Naruto looked at each other nervously. Akane liked to experiment in the kitchen, but she was an awful cook. However, telling her this was the surest way to make her lose her temper.

"Sure, we haven't eaten yet," said Ryouga, not knowing any better.

The three newcomers followed Akane and the old man into the house. To his surprise, Ranma thought the meal smelled good. He and his sister hesitated while Ryouga took a bite.

"This is good!" he said.

Ranma shared another look with his sister. He shrugged and then took a tentative bite. It was good.

"Hey, this is good, Akane!" Naruto said. "What did you do differently?"

"Hey!" Akane protested. "I'm always a good cook!"

"Do you even try what you make?" Naruto asked.

Akane frowned. "I cook for my family. I want others to enjoy it."

Ranma started coughing uncontrollably.

Akane glared at him.

"Akane," Naruto said seriously, "the best cook I know, always tastes his own food. That's how he knows an accident didn't happen while he was cooking. He told me one time his daughter accidently put some sugar in the salt container. That happened to be one of the few times he didn't taste the food and he was horribly embarrassed at how badly it turned out."

Ranma wondered how Akane would feel if she knew that Naruto considered a ramen-stand owner the best chef in the world.

"But Kasumi's food always turns out perfectly and I'm her sister!" Akane exclaimed.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Have you ever watched Kasumi cook?" Ranma asked. "She always tastes her food. That's how she knows it's simmered long enough."

"Cooking is a girl thing," Akane said. "Shouldn't it come naturally?"

Even Ryouga stared at her this time.

"While in traditional homes, it's usually the woman that cooks," he said. "Many, if not most, professional chefs are men."

"Everything takes practice, Akane," Ranma said. "Even people that are naturally good at things, still need to practice. Even though I'm talented at martial arts, if I didn't practice I wouldn't be any good."

"In my village, martial arts are taken very seriously," said Naruto. "I know two boys who practice together. One of them is naturally talented _and_ has a powerful family style. The other was the dead last from the academy that teaches martial arts, but is very dedicated. The first is considered a genius, but the other has _made_ himself into a 'genius of hard work.' I have a lot more respect for the second one, Lee, than the first one, Neji. Both of them are very good nowadays, but I think Lee would win in a straight up martial arts fight."

"It's true that most natural deficiencies can be overcome with hard work," said Ranma. "You just have to be willing to put the effort into it and be a good student. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean that you're automatically good at feminine things. Which is actually a relief to me, considering my curse."

Akane giggled. "I really didn't do anything different than I normally do. I'm not sure why you think it tastes better this time."

"It's the Water of Life," the old man said. He had stepped outside for a few minutes. "It makes everything better. Unfortunately, the well I pull if from has dried up."

"What does this mean for Shinnosuke?" Akane asked.

"If he doesn't get some soon, I'm afraid he'll die," said the old man.

"Does it come out of any other wells, Gramps?" Ranma asked.

"There's several wells it comes out of in the forest," the old man admitted.

"Naruto and I will check them," Ranma volunteered.

"We can all help," Ryouga said.

"It will be faster if Ranma and I do it," Naruto said. "We can run very fast and we don't have your problem with directions, Ryouga."

Ryouga and Akane both looked like they would protest. Naruto looked at Ryouga expectantly until he grumbled incoherently and sat back down.

Ranma told Akane, "No offense, Akane, but Naruto and I have a certain advantage at running through the forest at dusk that you don't have."

Akane frowned, but also relented.

The two cursed boys left the house and changed into their giant fox forms as soon as they were out of sight.

* * *

An hour later, Naruto and Ranma had both returned.

"I checked four wells and they were all dry," said Ranma.

"I checked three and they were dry too," said Naruto.

"That means that _it_ has awakened," said the old man quietly.

"It?" Ranma asked. "What do you mean?"

"The Yamata no Orochi," [ _Eight-branched Serpent_ ] he said. "The Water of Life comes from moss that grows on its back. It lives in a water-filled cave under the forest. For the wells to be dry, it must have moved."

"The Yamata no Orochi?" Ryouga repeated. "Seriously?"

The old man nodded solemnly. "I have a plan to distract the beast and get the moss, but it's too late to discuss it now. We can do it in the morning."

* * *

The next morning, the old man explains the plan, "The Yamata no Orochi desires two things: sake and women. We'll use them to distract it."

"You want one of us to distract it?" Akane said.

"No, no," the old man said. "I couldn't ask that of you. I'll do it myself."

The five teenagers looked at him confusedly.

"I'll show you!" he exclaimed and ran off to his room.

The old man returned wearing frumpy women's clothes and a ratty wig. "Ta da!" he said.

Ranma and Naruto started to laugh. Akane scowled. Ryouga looked embarrassed.

Shinnosuke looked at Naruto and Ranma and asked, "What's so funny?"

Naruto paused laughing long enough to get out, "Your grampa! He thinks he can pass as a woman!"

Shinnosuke looked at his grandpa and chuckled. "That is pretty funny!"

The old man looked offended.

After a minute, Shinnosuke stopped laughing and looked confused. "What's so funny."

Ranma and Naruto finally stopped laughing.

Ranma said, "Don't worry Gramps, Naruto and I will be the distractions."

Naruto shook her head. "Nuh uh, Neechan. I'll do it. Distractions are my specialty."

Ranma frowned. "You're getting better, Imouto, but I'm still much better. I don't think you can take on a giant eight-headed snake by yourself."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow and said, "Can't I?"

She formed her hands into a shape reminiscent of a cross and said, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Three other Narutos appeared beside her.

"I'd forgotten you can do that," Ranma muttered.

"Jealous much, Neechan?" Naruto said sassily.

Ranma frowned.

"No need for anyone but my expendable clones to be dragon bait," Naruto said.

"Hey!" one of the clones exclaimed.

"How many of those can you make?" Ryouga asked.

"Hundreds," Naruto said with a shrug. "They aren't very tough, but they're pretty useful."

"How come I haven't seen you do that before?" Akane asked.

"Ero-sennin asked me not to use this type of skill because it attracts too much attention," she explained, "but I think this situation warrants it. I'd just ask you guys not to spread it around."

Shinnosuke's grandfather sent him off on an errand. "He would be useful, if it weren't for his memory problems. He would forget what we were doing and interfere," he explained.

The four teenagers and followed the old man to where the Orochi had its lair. The teenagers each carried boxes full of sake jars. The old man carried a bundle of brooms. As they walked they came up with a rough plan. Naruto's clones would distract the Orochi and look for the moss. Once the moss had been found, the clones would try and get it to one of the real people. The real people would throw the sake bottles at the monster if it got too close to them.

The old man led them to a little lake.

"The monster should be around here," he said.

"I'll find it!" Naruto exclaimed. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Two dozen clones of the blonde girl spread out around the lake. One enterprising clone walked out across the lake.

"How is she doing that?" Ryouga asked.

"You direct chakra to your feet," Naruto explained. "It's actually kind of tricky to learn because the water ebbs and flows and you have to adjust the amount of chakra."

"Chakra?" Akane said. "Like what you're teaching Ranma?"

"Yep!"

Further thoughts were halted when a head emerged under the clone and swallowed her whole. The head was joined by six others.

The four teenagers looked at the old man incredulously.

He chuckled nervously. "It's fond of women because it likes the way they taste."

Naruto shuddered. "That was horrific!"

"I know!" Akane said.

"You don't understand," Naruto wailed. "I get their memories when they 'die!'"

The rest of the group shuddered sympathetically.

"Draw it closer to the shore so that we can support your clones better," Ranma commanded.

"Sure," Naruto agreed. She created more clones. They swarmed the beast.

The Orochi was quick to swallow or bite the clones. They were not making much progress. In looking for the moss. The only positive was that the beast was too busy to attack the teens and the old man.

"You need your clones to be faster, Imouto," Ranma said.

"You're right," Naruto said with a sigh. She changed into her foxgirl form and made more clones. These clones managed to avoid the Orochi's mouths more effectively.

The old man stared at her. "What are you?"

Naruto grimaced. "I picked up a curse a few months ago that makes me look like this."

"How is it a curse?" the old man asked.

"I dislike foxes, so something that makes me look like one is a curse," Naruto said curtly.

"None of my clones have seen any moss on the beast," she added.

"It's probably on the part under the water," Ranma said. "Try drawing it out."

Naruto nodded and formed a clone which promptly dispelled.

"Why'd it disappear?" asked Ryougua.

"When the clone 'dies' or dispels, I and any other clones get its memories," Naruto said. "It's an easy way to pass messages to them."

Ranma remembered how embarrassed his sister had been when her mother had informed her of that. He still could not believe she had not noticed without being told.

Two of the blonde's clones landed on an Orochi head. One of them held out her hand and a glowing ball formed in it. The other clone held her hands around it.

"What's the second one doing?" Akane asked.

"Stabilizing the technique," Naruto answered.

The first clone yelled, "Rasengan!" She slammed the glowing ball into the back of the monster's head.

The head slumped into the water and the other heads howled in agony. The Naruto clones withdrew to the edge of the lake. The snake heads lunged after them.

"That did it, Imouto," Ranma said.

A head emerged from under the water. It was attached to the other end of the snake monster's body. It was three times as big as the others.

"Check out the eighth head, Imouto," Ranma said.

Clones tossed each other toward the big head. The enraged beast managed to disrupt most of them, but several made it into the air over the main head.

"There it is!" one of them called. "Back of the big head!"

Naruto made a two dozen more clones.

"Use the brooms to scrape off the moss," the old man said.

"Leave a few of them, just in case," Ranma said.

Six of the clones grabbed brooms, leaving three of the brooms with the others. As the clones began their assault, Shinnosuke arrived. The clones again launched their 'sisters' into the air. Most of them were supposed to distract the monster while three of the ones with brooms tried to land on the back of the monster's head. One of them made it and with a couple of swipes of her broom gathered some moss. Two of the smaller heads lunged at the clone. She threw the broom before being 'popped' by the heads smashing into her.

Shinnosuke intercepted the broom. He made to attack the Orochi, but Ranma grabbed the broom out of his hands.

"Sorry, Bud," he said, "but we need that broom."

"Do I know you, Miss?" Shinnosuke asked.

"Yeah, I'll explain later," Ranma said. He passed the broom to Shinnosuke's grandpa.

"We got the moss, what do we do now?" Ryouga asked.

"We give it the sake to calm it down," the old man said.

The teens and Naruto's clones tossed the jars of sake at the beast. The Orochi snapped them out of the air. However, rather than calming it down, it seemed to make the beast more irritable.

"What now, Old Man?" Ranma said.

"I don't know," he said. "I expected the sake to work. If only we had the Horned Mongoose Whistle, but it's been missing for years."

"You mean this?" asked Akane. She held up a whistle shaped like a mongoose.

"Where'd you get that?" the old man demanded.

"Shinnosuke gave it to me years ago," she said.

The Orochi had advanced on their position.

"Blow it!" the old man yelled.

Akane did as he asked just as four of the heads were about to converge on the real Naruto. The heads shook themselves and then the beast withdrew into the water and sank into the depths. Naruto heaved a sigh of relief.

The five teens and the old man withdrew to Shinnosuke's house. Ranma checked the well near the house.

"Hey, the well has water again," he called.

"Putting the Yamata no Orochi to sleep again must have restored the wells," said the old man.

"What do we do with the moss then?" Akane asked.

"Keep it just in case?" Naruto suggested.

"I wish there was something permanent we could do for Shinnosuke," his grandpa said.

"We might know someone who could help," Ranma said.

* * *

The four visiting teens left to return to Nerima. On the way, Ryouga got lost. They arrived at the Nekohanten and asked for Koron.

After they explained Shinnosuke's plight, she said, "I might be able to help him. I would be happy to try in return for a sample of the moss."

The three teens guided the old woman back to Shinnosuke's house.

"This moss has very potent healing properties," Koron said. "I can make a poultice using it that should permanently heal Shinnosuke. It won't help him regain his memories, but it will allow him to gain new ones."

After the Amazon made the poultice, the four from Nerima made ready to leave. As they were about to leave, Shinnosuke pulled Akane aside. They talked for about ten minutes before Akane rejoined them.

"What did Shinnosuke want?" Ranma asked.

"He wanted me to stay," she admitted. "I'll be honest, it was tempting. Shinnosuke and his grandpa appreciated me more than my family does."

"Why didn't you?" Naruto asked.

"As much as my family annoys me at times, they're still my family. I'd miss them."

"Even your idiot pop?" Ranma asked.

"Even my idiot pop," she answered.

"I know the feeling," Ranma said with a laugh.

"Plus," Akane added, "I'm not ready to give up on my dreams."

"Good for you," Naruto said.

Ranma nodded. "I wouldn't depend on your pop to fulfill your dreams. You can reach them without him, even if it will be harder."

"Wise words," Koron said. "Men are too undependable to rely upon."

"Hey!" Ranma protested.

The old woman cackled.


	14. Chapter 14: Caught

When they got back to the Tendou Home, Akane's father began sobbing tears of gratitude. Kasumi was a little irritated that "Jaki-chan" had gotten lost again, but she was pleased that he had helped them find Akane.

After dinner, Naruto judged that Ranma had gotten good enough with Leaf Sticking to move on to what she called the "Academy Three." The first was the Transformation Technique.

"This is actually supposed to be the most difficult of the three," Naruto admitted, "but I'm better at it than the other two. I think it's because it requires more chakra than the other two and I have a hard time with techniques that don't require much. To do it, you do the Dog, Boar, and Ram hand seals, picture the form you want to take and then say 'Transformation Technique.' The better your mental picture of your target, the more you look like it."

"Why don't you use the technique to be a man more than the tree hours our cursed form lets you?" Ranma asked.

"Ero-sennin didn't recommend it and after he explained, I agree with him," Naruto said. "The technique takes a _lot_ of concentration. It's almost impossible to maintain in a fight. It's also detectable by other ninja—not everyone, but any competent sensor ninja can. The chakra drain also increases the longer you use it. Five or ten minutes barely effects my reserves, but by 40 minutes, I'm feeling it, and by an hour, I have to let it go. Part of my problem, according to Ero-sennin is that I overload the technique. This makes it more effective in the short run—I can take a hit or two without it dispelling while using it—but it makes it last not as long as it would for someone with excellent chakra control. To me, the extra hour of 'boy time' is not worth nearing chakra exhaustion."

"Still, it could be a useful method to temporarily deal with water splashes when our curse is unlocked if we can activate it quick enough," Ranma said.

To Naruto's apparent irritation, it only took Ranma a couple of hours to figure out how to use the Technique. His transformations still had flaws, but experience using his cursed form's shape-shifting helped somewhat. It would have helped more if he shape-shifted into something other than his birth form more often.

"It took me months to learn how to do this technique!" Naruto pouted.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "How old were you?"

She chuckled ruefully. "Okay, I was nine. I could do it much faster now. I did manage to learn how to do Shadow Clones in a couple of hours! Come to think of it, I had to spy on other students to figure it out since the teachers wouldn't help me."

Ranma lightly smacked the back of her head. "Idiot."

* * *

That night, they once again went for a run as foxes. As their run progressed, Naruto started to feel uncomfortable, as if he were being watched. When he asked Ranma about it, the other fox agreed, but said they would deal with it later if it persisted.

For the third time, they rescued someone from muggers in their giant fox forms—an elderly man this time. After they ran off, they stopped to rest in the park.

Their rest was interrupted by a young woman's voice say, "So you are three-tails after all. I was expecting one-tail kits barely into their fourth decade after you two kept exposing yourselves like that."

Naruto and Ranma turned around and saw a red-furred vixen starting at them. Naruto did not know much about foxes. The only foxes he had ever seen were himself and Ranma—the Kyuubi did not count as it looked only vaguely fox-like. The only thing he could really say about this new fox was that her coloring was the exact shade of red that Ranma's human girl hair and fox fur were.

"How come you didn't seek me out when you came into the area?" the vixen said.

Naruto exchanged a look with Ranma. _Go ahead, Imouto_ , Ranma said voicelessly. _You're better at diplomacy than I am._

 _Nobody's ever accused me of being good at diplomacy before,_ Naruto commented.

 _At least you've never had a 'friend' vow to kill you yet_ , she responded.

Naruto mentally rolled his eyes at her.

"We haven't been exposed to other foxes," Naruto said. "We didn't know the protocol or even that there were others in the area."

"Where are you from?" the vixen said curiously. "While we aren't super common. It's beyond reason that you could be three tails and I'm the first fox you've run into."

Naruto hesitated. Jiraiya had told him not to spread around his origin after the Amazon encounter, but the choice seemed to do that or talk about Jusenkyo. Finally, he said, "The Elemental Nations."

"Ah, that might explain it," she said. "That place has been mostly blocked off for about two thousand years." She looked at them and said, "Would you like to come to my home for some tea? That way we could properly get to know one another and I can tell you what's expected of visitors to the area. My name is Harumi."

Naruto and Ranma exchanged looks again and then nodded. They did not need much sleep and it would be better to not make mistakes with their supernatural neighbors.

"Okay," Naruto said. "I'm Naru." He opted to use the more feminine-sounding short form of his name to avoid confusion.

"I'm Ran," Ranma added.

They ran through the streets until they came to a neighborhood with small family homes. They entered a house through a doggie door.

"It's a little demeaning," Harumi said, "but too handy not to install one of these."

The vixen shifted into a red-haired foxgirl with four tails. The astonishing thing was that she looked a lot like Ranma. Like both of them, if Naruto were honest, but other than having a similar hair color, she did not look much like his mother—or his father—so Naruto thought the resemblance came from the "Ranma portion" of their looks. She was dressed in a kimono.

Naruto and Ranma shifted into their foxgirl forms.

"Astonishing," Harumi said. "I wasn't aware of any sisters or aunts in the Elemental Nations, but you two do look like close relatives of mine."

"We don't really know much about our family," Naruto said, "but it does make me curious."

She smiled at them. "Let's go to the main room. We'll have tea and get to know each other."

They followed the other foxgirl into the main room and knelt down at the low table while their host went to the kitchen. The room was nicely, but demurely decorated. The only outstanding item was a beautiful katana that was displayed on the wall.

 _Do you think we should tell her about Jusenkyo?_ Naruto asked.

 _I don't think we have a choice,_ Ranma said with a grimace. _We'll make too many mistakes if we try to avoid it. It sounds as if the legend that foxes accumulate tails with age is true. I doubt we could pass for whatever age we're supposed to be. The only one of our supernatural abilities we're even close to knowing anything about is our shape-shifting._

 _We could try and play the orphan card, which is true in my case and effectively true in yours_ , Naruto responded. He did not consider Genma a real father to his sister. _But if we're supposed to be three hundred years old, that would be less effective._

 _We could see if we could get some training on how to use our fox abilities from her,_ Ranma said.

Naruto grimaced mentally. He did not like anything that made him more fox-like.

 _Don't give me that, Imouto,_ Ranma chided. _It's better to be trained so you don't accidentally burn something with your foxfire. Fox youkai are supposed to be good at illusions too. She might be able to help us be able to pass as ourselves more often._

 _I suppose,_ Naruto agreed reluctantly.

Harumi returned with tea. After she served them and herself, she sipped her tea. She set it down and said, "I sense several weird energies coming from the both of you. You both have exceptionally strong ki, but underneath that I feel a trace of death magic and a separate malicious energy that feels like corrupted ki."

Naruto set down his tea. "The high amount of ki is easy to explain, Ran has trained extensively in martial arts and since I am from the Elemental Nations, I have received ninja training."

"You aren't sisters?" Harumi asked. "If it weren't for your hair color, I'd say you were identical twins."

"We _are_ sisters," Naruto said, "but it's the result of a magical accident—the death magic you sensed on us. Are you familiar with Jusenkyo?"

"I've heard of it," Harumi said. "A cousin of my great-grandmother is said to have met her end there."

"We must have fallen in her spring," Ranma said.

"Fallen in her spring?" she asked.

"If you fall in the spring that a person or animal has drowned in, you're cursed to take their form," Ranma explained.

"So you aren't naturally vixens?" Harumi asked.

"No," Naruto said. "Neither of us are thrilled about our curses. We have a way to stay in our cursed forms without changing, but we don't know how to stay in our natural forms without being affected by the trigger, which is cold water."

Harumi giggled. "Let me guess, you were both men before?"

At their sheepish nod, she said, "How long have you been cursed?"

"About two months," Naruto said.

"We were actually wondering if you could help us out," Ranma said. "We've both used our foxfire by accident, but we don't really know how to control it. The only ability we can really use is our shapeshifting."

Harumi laughed lightly. "So you went from human to three tails in an instant, huh? I'd be happy to help you. I'll also teach you our customs so you don't offend an older youkai. Do you mind showing me your original forms? I'm dying of curiosity."

"Ran actually can't turn human at the moment," Naruto added, "due to that other complication you noticed—and I rarely do as a form of solidarity. We just use our fox shapeshifting abilities to appear human. If you get me some warm water, I'll show you how it works."

"What's the complication?" Harumi asked.

Naruto and Ranma looked at each other. "We'll need a strong oath," Naruto said finally, "that you won't tell anyone. I have dangerous people hunting me because of the complication."

"I swear on my tails that I won't reveal your secret complication as long as you are honest with me," Harumi said.

Naruto nodded. "My village was attacked the day I was born by a powerful ninja that freed an ancient malevolent spirit made out of chakra—what the Japanese seem to call ki—and set it to attacking the village. The spirit, called the Kyuubi no Youko since it is in the shape of a fox, was sealed by my parents into me using the power of the Shinigami. Ran and I fell into the same spring at Jusenkyo at the same time. The death magic of Jusenkyo interacted with the seal the Shinigami left on me and spread the seal to Ran. Since Ran's chakra wasn't organized in the proper manner, whenever she changes back to her human form, the Kyuubi's power tries to leave. My sensei and I are teaching her to organize her chakra so that she can deactivate her curse."

"Fascinating," Harumi said. "Let me go and get the water."

While they were waiting, Naruto walked over to the sword on the wall.

"I didn't think you were that into swords, Imouto," Ranma said.

"I'm not really," he said. "A kunai is more versatile, but even _you_ would have to agree that the finest swords are works of art. This is a nice one."

"It's tradition in my family that the women are given an 'honor blade' to keep in line their human husbands," Harumi said, entering the room again.

"You're married?" Naruto asked.

"After a fashion," she answered. "My husband abandoned me. He ran off with our human son. He was supposed to give me an heir as well, but after he got his, he lost interest in me and always managed to be gone when I needed him here. The man is an idiot, but he has a certain cunning to him that attracted me to him in the first place."

She paused. "You two haven't been foxes long enough to experience estrus. I don't suppose you know what a menstrual cycle is?"

Ranma shook his head.

Naruto said, "I know that there's a few days a month where my friend Sakura is extra irritable that gets blamed on it, but nobody's explained anything to me about why."

"Female mammals have cycles where their body prepares to get pregnant. For humans this happens once a month. Normal foxes do it once a year. With fox youkai, we also do it once a year—usually in September, but we can trigger a human menstrual cycle if we want at any other time of year. If we trigger a cycle and get pregnant, the offspring is human. If we have a child due to our normal yearly cycle, the offspring is a fox youkai."

At the idea of getting pregnant, Naruto's mind froze up. Ranma's face looked deathly pale.

Harumi laughed. "It's not that bad. You only have to deal with it once a year. Your poor human friends who are girls have to deal with it every month."

"It's not that," Naruto said. "I'm not really sure what _that_ is. The thought of getting pregnant just gives me the willies." He shuddered.

Harumi laughed again. "I'll explain _that_ when you come back for training." She paused. "I suppose I should tell you the name I'm known by here. Since I earned my tails legitimately," she winked at them, "I'm over 300 years old. I periodically have to change my name so that people don't get suspicious. Even though I'm still partial to Harumi, since it what my mother named me, everyone knows me by Saotome Nodoka nowadays."

"Saotome!?" Ranma stuttered.

Naruto looked back and forth between Ranma and Harumi. "Is your husband's name Saotome Genma?" he asked.

"Yes," Harumi said quietly. "Is Ran short for Ranma?"

* * *

Ranma nodded as he stared at the woman who seemed to be his mother. "He told me you were dead."

Harumi rolled her eyes. She approached him and wrapped him in a hug. At first, Ranma stiffened, but the woman seemed to genuinely care about him, so he relaxed and hugged her back.

"That sounds like something he would do," she said. "The idiot got the idea into his mind that I would make you 'soft,' probably from his disgusting master."

"He has mentioned his views on women once or twice," Naruto said sarcastically.

"Oh, we are going to have such fun with my _dear_ husband," Harumi said. She was almost cackling with how excited she was.

"Not that we don't want to believe you," said Naruto, "but do you have any evidence you're Ranma's mother?"

Harumi giggled. "Ranma, your sister wants to see your baby pictures."

Ranma felt a feeling of dread come over him.

It turned out that the dread was well founded. Sometimes Ranma wished he had Naruto's sense of shame: in other words, none. The pictures were embarrassing.

His mother paused before turning the last page. "This will be the instrument of your father's anguish."

The last page of the album was taken up by an ornate, but handmade certificate. The certificate stated that Saotome Genma vowed to make his son, Ranma, a 'man among men' or else both would commit seppuku. Genma had signed the contract. Small fingerprints appeared underneath the signature.

"You can't be serious!?" Naruto shouted.

Ranma froze up again. Now his father's reluctance to tell him about his mother made even more sense.

Harumi snorted. "I'm not, but I plan on making _dear_ husband think I am. The idiot thought that this was an acceptable trade for running off with my son!"

"So you didn't accept the contract?" Naruto asked.

" _My_ signature isn't on this thing," Harumi proclaimed.

Ranma felt relief flood him.

"It must be karma that you fell in that spring, Ranma," Harumi said. "Now Genma's heir is my heir because of his selfishness."

Ranma was not sure what he thought of that, but he could get behind the part that made his pop squirm.

The three of them spent the rest of the night plotting and telling stories.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I had to give a reason why they couldn't just use the Transformation Technique (Henge) all the time else one of the main points of the story would be circumvented.


	15. Chapter 15: Family

"We ought to head back, unless we want to explain why we've been gone," Naruto said. It was approaching five o'clock and the sun was coming up.

Ranma nodded.

Harumi hugged Naruto and then lingered over her hug with Ranma.

Ranma leaned away from the hug slightly so that she could look her mother in the face. "You aren't going to destroy Pop, are you?" she asked. "I know he deserves it, but I'm still kind of fond of him."

"No," Harumi said. "I married him knowing full well what kind of man he was."

"Why would you do that!?" Naruto questioned incredulously.

"I'm a 327-year-old fox," Harumi said with a smirk. "I get bored easily. A normal man just wouldn't do it for me. That said, I _am_ a 327-year-old fox. He _will_ squirm."

"You're fine with what he's done?" Ranma asked, slightly shaken.

"No, Ranma, I'm not," her mother said. "I'm just not surprised and in some way I deserve it a little for encouraging his. . . eccentricities, but _you_ do not."

Harumi hugged Ranma tighter. "He _will_ pay in blood for the Cat Fist, however."

Naruto said, "I'll help if you need it, Bachan," [ _aunt, informal_ ] Naruto said.

Harumi flashed him a smile. "Before you go can I see my 'manly son?'" she asked with a foxy smile.

Ranma changed back to his birth form. Naruto had already shown her his via hot water.

She hugged him again. "It's great to hold my son again."

She let go as Ranma turned red from embarrassment. "Run along, you two. I'll see you in a couple of hours," she said.

* * *

When they arrived back at the Tendou home, Ranma and Naruto decided to just start their sparring without going inside first. The two cursed boys were using their "boy time."

Lately, Ranma's father rarely participated in the morning sparring and just yelled useless platitudes from the porch. When Ranma had asked, his father had told him that "learning how to teach was more important than sparring with me." Ranma figured that the panda was just being lazy. Akane also avoided the morning spars, since that was their "boy time." She participated in the afternoon spars when they practiced as girls.

The spars consisted mainly of Naruto trying to hit Ranma and Ranma dodging with the occasional block for about an hour and then Ranma going on the offensive for about half that time. The last half hour before breakfast was spent on Ranma teaching Naruto forms, stances, and katas.

After breakfast, Ranma and Naruto ran up to their room to grab their school things. Ranma heard a commotion downstairs and smiled. His mom had arrived. He was about to head down, when his pop in his panda form barreled up the stairs and blocked the way down.

"What are you doing, Pop?" he asked. "Who's down there?"

 **Nobody** , his pop's sign read.

"It's obviously someone," he replied.

"Hello, Mr. Tendou," his mother's voice came from the living room. "I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Saotome Nodoka."

"Of course I remember you, Mrs. Saotome," Mr. Tendou replied.

"Who is Saotome Nodoka, Old Man?" Ranma demanded.

The panda silently barred his way.

"I'm looking for my husband and my son, Ranma," his mother's voice continued. "I've heard that they might be here."

"Nobody, huh?" Ranma stated angrily.

 **Boy, if you show yourself to her, you'll die!** the panda's sign read.

Ranma looked at his father doubtfully.

 **I'll explain later, Boy!** the panda's sign read. He flipped it over. **She can't know about the curse!**

"Fine," he said. "It's not like she'll recognize me."

He roundhouse kicked the panda out of his way and ran down the stairs. Naruto followed him.

"Hello!" Ranma and Naruto chirped in unison as they entered the living room.

"Who are these young ladies?" his mother asked. She was carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle.

"Err. . ." Mr. Tendou said nervously. "These are my nieces, Ran. . . ko and Naruko."

"Call me Ran!"

"Call me Naru!"

"How adorable," she said. "Are you two twins? And both of you with distinct and unusual hair colors. Do both of you dye it?"

She reached around Ranma's head and handled his ponytail. "My hair was almost this color when I was younger."

Ranma smiled. "Yes, we're twins. No, both of our hair is natural. I've heard my mother had similar hair, but I don't remember her."

Naruto said, "I've heard I have the same hair as my father, but he died the day I was born." Naruto's hair had grown out to the point over the last couple months that she had it gathered into a short ponytail.

"Oh, you poor dears," Harumi said. "You simply _must_ call me obasan." [ _aunt_ ]

"Okay, Bachan," they said in unison.

Harumi giggled. "Tomboys, eh? We'll have to work on that."

"Sorry, Bachan," Naruto said, "but we have to go to school."

"Don't let me keep you," Ranma's mother said. "I'll be back this afternoon to look for my son. If you don't mind, I'll talk to you both then, okay? As long as you don't mind talking to a lonely old woman."

"We don't mind," Ranma said.

"You're not _that_ old, Bachan," Naruto said.

"Adorable girls, but they clearly need a guiding hand," Harumi muttered as she walked out of the room.

Once his mother had been gone for a couple of minutes, Ranma exploded at his father who had re-entered the room, "What was that about, Pop!? Why did you want me to lie to Mom!?"

The panda cowered slightly before holding up a sign. **You better head to school.—** flip— **You wouldn't want to be late.**

"You better explain after school, Old Man," Ranma snarled.

 **Fine!** —flip— **After school.**

* * *

After school, Ranma raced home. Naruto ran after her with Akane trailing her.

"You realize that she probably won't be here for a while," Akane said when they had all arrived at the Tendou home.

"More time for me to beat some answers out of Pop," Ranma said.

The three of them entered the living room and found Ranma's father playing shogi with Akane's.

"Hello!" they called, entering the room.

"Hello!" Kasumi called from the kitchen.

The father's both waved negligently in half-hearted greeting. Ranma stomped over to where they were playing and tipped over the board.

"You owe me answers, Old Man," she snarled.

"Son, that's hardly appropriate. . ." Mr. Tendou started.

" _You_ , don't have any room to talk," Ranma said, "since you clearly knew what was going on or you wouldn't have called me 'Ranko.'"

Kasumi walked over to Ranma and pulled her away from the fathers. "We know you're excited to see your mother again, Ranma, but there's no need to be upset about it," she said gently. "I'm sure that your father will give you the answers you deserve in a timely manner so that dinner isn't delayed."

Ranma's father huffed in annoyance. "Very well, I'll tell you the bitter truth, but we should wait for Nabiki so that all of your potential fiancées hear the story."

When Nabiki arrived, they all sat around the low table in the dining room.

Finally, Ranma's father began the tale, "When the boy was young, he displayed a remarkable talent for the art, but not the disposition. He made remarkable progress learning katas, but the true tests of martial arts mastery, he shied away from."

Naruto glanced at his sister who had a scowl on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about, Old Man," she snarled, "but I've never shied away from any reasonable training."

Her father sighed in exasperation. "The path of a martial artist is fraught with peril, Boy, and you couldn't handle it. Whenever I tried to get you to do fall training, you went and cried to your mother!"

"You would throw me off of roofs!" Ranma yelled.

"And you can take it now, can't you?" her father replied.

Ranma folded her arms and glared at him.

"Whenever the boy would cry to his mother," her father continued, "she would suggest that we cut back on the training! No son of mine would ever refuse training! I came up with the ingenious plan to take the boy on a training trip where we would be free from Nodoka's womanly interference and I could train the boy properly.

"Being a woman, Nodoka could not understand the training necessary to produce the best martial artist of his generation. She did not want to let him go. Finally, I convinced her with this!"

He withdrew a scroll and tossed it to Ranma. She caught it and unrolled it. Naruto and the Tendou girls looked over her shoulder.

 **I, Saotome Genma, solemnly swear to make my son, Saotome Ranma, a man among men or we will restore our honor through sepukku.**

It was signed by her father and had child-like hand prints on it in paint.

"You can't be serious," Nabiki said.

"Nodoka takes honor very seriously," Genma said. "The bundle she was carrying this morning contained the family honor sword. I'm afraid you can't reveal yourself to your mother, Boy, until the curse is handled and you've chosen a fiancée."

"What do fiancées have to do with this?" Ranma asked, furious.

Her father chuckled nervously. "I'm afraid Nodoka won't find you manly unless you're in a steady relationship with a girl."

"What," Ranma said flatly.

Genma chuckled nervously again. "I'm afraid your mother is a little bit. . . eccentric—mainly about grandchildren. She was already planning for them the day you were born."

"Saotome Genma, prepare to die!" Ranma yelled.

Naruto chuckled as Ranma sprouted her tails and ears and leapt over the table. Genma turned and fled. Ranma gave him just enough of a lead so that he would think he might get away.

* * *

About an hour later, Harumi appeared. When she was told that her husband and son had taken a training trip of unknown duration, she sat down with Ranma and Naruto and made small talk.

The pattern continued for the rest of the week, with Harumi appearing and bonding with Ranma and Naruto. The two younger foxgirls made a couple of visits at night in which they planned a trip to go see Harumi's mother and grandmother.

"Ours is a matriarchal clan, Ranma," she said. "You need to present yourself to the clan head. You need to too, Naruto, as an honorary Saotome. She's also the most powerful fox youkai in Tokyo. It's only polite to pay your respects."

"We'll need to get time off from the Nekohanten in order to be able to go on Sunday," Ranma said.

"Elder Cologne could hardly forbid us from going to see the clan matriarch," Naruto said. "The Amazons put a lot of stock into things like that."

During the afternoons, Ranma worked on the Replacement Technique. He was finding it much harder than the Transformation Technique. However, he was determined. It had a _lot_ of great combat potential.

* * *

On Sunday morning, Harumi arrived to supposedly take Ranma and Naruto shopping. In reality they were going to see Ranma's grandmother and great-grandmother. Harumi had already gotten them clothes to take home with them.

As they boarded a train heading toward central Tokyo, Ranma said, "I don't think I've ever been _inside_ a train before. Pop is too cheap to pay, so we always ride on top."

Naruto chuckled. "I don't think Ero-sennin trusts them, so I've never been on one either. I don't think we have them at all in the Elemental Nations."

They got off the train in the Toshima Ward, which was the next ward to the southeast of Nerima. Harumi led them to a decent-sized home. A beautiful red-haired woman who looked to be Harumi's age invited them inside.

"Ranma, Naruto," Ranma's mother said, "this is my mother, Saotome Akami. Okaasan, [ _mother_ ] this is my son-turned-daughter, Ranma, and her mystical sister, Naruto."

"I hope to be your son again before too long, Kaachan," [ _mother, informal_ ] Ranma said.

"Even then, it will be part time, correct?" Harumi said.

Ranma nodded with a grimace.

"You said something about Jusenkyo on the phone, Harumi?" Ranma's grandma asked.

Ranma explained about what had happened, with Naruto and Harumi filling in some holes. When she asked about the ancient, malevolent spirit that seemed to be attached to them, they reluctantly explained about the Kyuubi, again extracting a promise to keep it to herself.

They ate lunch at his grandma's house before getting on the train again to go to the Chiyoda Ward.

They got off the train and went to a good-sized mansion on the edge of the ward. They were shown to a salon and knelt at a traditional low table.

An incredibly beautiful fox youkai dressed in a white and silver kimono entered the room, she had red hair, as seemed to be common with Ranma's female relatives, and nine tails. Ranma's mother and grandmother stood and bowed. He noticed that his mother's four tails and his grandma's six were both visible. Ranma and Naruto moved to stand and bow. Ranma noticed Naruto was unusually sullen.

"Okaasama," [ _Lady Mother_ ] Akami said, "may I introduce my grandson-turned-granddaughter, Saotome Ranma and her mystical sister, Naruto. The both of them had an encounter with Hanami's spring at Jusenkyo. Ranma, Naruto, my mother, Saotome Keimi, the Matriarch of Tokyo's Saotome clan."

"Greeting, Ranma, Naruto," said his great-grandmother. "It's customary not to hide what we are when it's just us in this house."

Ranma changed into his tailed from. He nudged Naruto and she followed suit.

"Why are you hesitant, Child?" Keiko asked Naruto.

"My experience with foxes has not been pleasant, especially nine-tailed ones," Naruto said warily.

"Is that because you have Kurama sealed inside you?" she asked.

 _My name is not to be used so trivially!_ the Kyuubi roared inside their minds.

 _We_ do _need a way to distinguish you from other nine tails, it seems,_ Ranma replied.

Ranma chuckled out loud. "Our guest does not like the fact that you know its name."

"One of my sons went to live in the Elemental Nations," Keimi explained. "He would sometimes inform me of what happened there before he died driving off an invasion of his home, Uzu no Shima, [ _Whirlpool Island_ ] about 300 years ago. He was fascinated by what the people of that land called the Bijuu, since they were modeled on youkai, but were something completely different."

 _Uzu no Shima?_ Naruto's mom said. _That's the island where I was born._

"We also have the. . . I guess you could call them ghosts of my parents sealed inside us," Naruto said. "My mother says she was born on Uzu no Shima."

"Interesting," Keimi said. "Until my son died, only his family lived there, I don't know what happened after he died. Your family must have moved there later. His progeny did not have the means to communicate across the barrier and, to be honest, most of them didn't know of the family in Japan."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"None of his children could be youkai, since that is always passed through the mother. He married a human woman from the Senju clan, so of course his children would all be human."

"Hey, that's Baachan's family name!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You are a Senju?" Keimi asked, interested.

"Nah," Naruto said. "I just call her that because she's old, but vain."

Harumi and Akami both giggled and the edges of Keimi's mouth twitched.

"She _is_ kind of like my grandma though," Naruto said and then paused thoughtfully, "or at least a grumpy aunt."

More giggles erupted.

"My son formed his own clan that he named the Uzumaki after the whirlpools that surrounded the island," Keimi continued.

Naruto gasped. "My family name is Uzumaki."

Keimi frowned. "I still doubt you're descended from my son. All of his descendants should have red hair."

"My mother has red hair," Naruto said. "A very similar shade to yours, but I take after my father's coloring and he's blond."

 _All of my family had red hair, Naruto,_ Kushina said. _I was pretty shocked when you didn't. The only Uzumaki descendants to not have red hair that I know of were Great-Aunt Mito's descendants, like Tsunade._

"My mother says that I'm unusual in not having red hair in our family," Naruto said.

"My son, Masaru, placed a blessing upon his children so that they would retain Uzumaki characteristics, even if they married other clans. The only way that this would _not_ be the case is if they married a Senju, since the blessing also enhanced his wife's characteristics."

"My father's family name was Namikaze," Naruto said.

 _I was an orphan,_ Naruto's father said. _I picked out the name Namikaze myself. That's why you've never met any others._

"My father says he was an orphan and didn't know his parents," Naruto said.

"I have a small magic spell that can test to see if you're a descendant," Keimi said. "I was planning to use it on Ranma, just to be sure."

"Okay," they both said.

She chanted a short spell under her breath and then cupped Ranma's hand in hers. A green glow covered his hand.

She smiled. "Welcome home, Ranma."

"Thank you, Hibaasama," [L _ady Great-Grandmother_ ] he said.

She repeated the same process for Naruto with the same result.

"Welcome home, Naruto."

Naruto hugged her. "Thanks, Hibaasama."

 _Tsunade's going to flip if she hears that you've called anyone "sama" and it wasn't her,_ Kushina said.

Keimi brushed the whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks. "I wonder why you both have these."

"My mom says I was born with them because she was Kurama's previous jailor," Naruto said. "Ranma got them after we both fell in the same pool and some of our characteristics got spread between each other."

Naruto and Ranma both ignored the Kyuubi's roar at being named again.

Something was bothering Ranma. "I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but you should try the spell again with Naruto in her uncursed form. The spell might be reacting to genetics she got from me."

Hot water was procured and Naruto returned to his birth form. The spell was repeated and his hand glowed green again. Naruto whooped in happiness.

Naruto's exuberance caused Ranma to grin.

"Would you like to turn back to, Ranma?" his great-grandmother asked.

Ranma frowned. "I can't deactivate my curse yet without Kurama escaping." He ignored the resulting roar. "Naruto's teaching me to control my ki like they do in the Elemental Nations. When I get good enough at it, I can unlock my curse, like Naruto did. I can use my shape-shifting skills to show you what I look like without it."

Ranma shifted to his natural form.

After a few minutes, Keimi asked them to change back so that she could introduce them to the aunts and cousins that were currently at the mansion. Evidently, male fox youkai were rare. Keimi had only ever had two sons—one of which, Naruto's ancestor, was dead—and three grandsons. None were currently present.

Before too long, it was time to go back to Nerima. Naruto and Ranma were both reluctant to leave. Both of them had never had family before—Ranma's pop was more of a sensei than a father—and had enjoyed being fussed over by their aunts, although neither would admit it.


	16. Chapter 16: Another Old Friend

Naruto and Ranma stopped at Harumi's house before heading back to the Tendou's.

"So Pop married into your family?" Ranma asked.

Harumi nodded. "With a name like Saotome, it would have to be that, wouldn't it?" she said with a grin.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"'Saotome' means 'young maiden,' but especially young maidens who planted rice," Harumi said. "Some of the maidens also tended shrines of Inari, the god of rice and foxes. Our cousins in Kyoto actually still claim to be Inari's servants."

"Is it true?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know," Ranma's mother said. "Obaasama refuses to talk about it. There's some bad blood between her and her sister, who is the head of the Kyoto Saotome clan."

"How bad?" Naruto asked.

"It's mostly that they stay in their territory and we stay in ours," Harumi explained. "If we happen to meet, we're civil, but distant."

Naruto nodded in relief. The bad blood made him agitated he did not like it when family did not get along, but at least it had not escalated.

"How did you convince Pop to take your name, Kaachan?" Ranma asked. "That doesn't seem like something he would do."

"I think he was expecting to be able to get ahold of my inheritance or, at the least, yours," Harumi said with a smirk. "He didn't read the marriage contract closely enough, however. There is no circumstance where he would gain control of either. If I died, guardianship of your inheritance would go to one of my relatives before him. There's also the fact that by Saotome clan bylaws, the woman is the head of the family."

Naruto and Ranma looked at each other in shock.

"That means that the marriage agreement. . ." Naruto began in shock.

". . .Is invalid!" Ranma finished.

"That's right," Harumi agreed.

"When were you going to tell me, Kaachan!?" Ranma demanded.

Her mother smiled at her. "Doesn't it feel much more rewarding to figure it out yourself? I would have told you eventually anyway, but you've done a fine job of stalling the agreement yourself."

Ranma heaved a sigh of relief. "I like all the Tendou girls well enough, but I'm too young to get married and I'd rather not be forced into it."

"How come Hibaasama hasn't kicked Genma out of the clan?" Naruto asked. "I would think that the dishonor of having him be a member would require it."

"Our clan is old and eccentric," Harumi said. "Those that deal with our clan accept that we sometimes have members by marriage that are, shall-we-say, less than desirable. They know that my dear husband has no actual authority in the clan or family. I understand that he has taken to saying that he is from the Saotome Clan of Nerima to try and distance himself from my family and claim his own clan, but no such clan register exists. As for why Obaasama hasn't? I asked her not to."

"Why not!?" asked Naruto and Ranma together.

"My dear husband is foolish," she said, "but I'm fond of him."

"Fond of toying with him?" Naruto asked.

She smiled. "There is that, but underneath it all, Genma isn't a bad man—most of the time. I have genuine affection for him."

Ranma and Naruto both shook their heads in confusion.

The three of them spent the next hour plotting against Ranma's father.

* * *

The following day was a Monday. When they arrived in their classroom, a new student was waiting to be introduced. He was wearing the standard uniform, but had a very large spatula and a portable grill strapped to his back.

"My name is Kuonji Ukyou," he said as he wrote the kanji for his name on the board. "I am an okonomiyaki chef and I practice my family's special martial art that is based on cooking okonomiyaki! Please take care of me."

 _Uchan!_ Ranma said mentally. _My old buddy!_

He pulled out the grill and the spatula and with a flash of ki heated the grill and started cooking. He started flipping finished okonomiyaki to all the students in the class. Naruto's okonomiyaki had a message written in the sauce. Naruto looked over and saw that Ranma's had the same message: **Talk to me after class.**

Ranma started grinning.

 _Calm down, Neechan_ , Naruto sent. _He probably thinks you're the male-you's cousin because of Nabiki's magazine._

 _True_ , Ranma returned, but kept grinning.

During the break between classes, Ukyou approached him and Ranma. "You Saotome Ranma's cousins?" he asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Neechan's name is also Ranma."

"I want to meet with him," Ukyou said seriously. "It's a matter of honor."

"Sure," Ranma said. "He would love to see his old buddy Uchan again."

 _Boy time is almost used up for today,_ Naruto reminded her.

"But it will have to be tomorrow," Ranma added.

A snarl crossed Ukyou's face, but then cleared into blankness. "Why not today?"

"We usually only see him in the mornings," Naruto said.

"You can tell me where he's staying," Ukyou pressed.

"He doesn't stay anywhere near here usually," Naruto said.

"Just make sure he comes tomorrow after school!" Ukyou demanded.

"Calm down," Ranma said. "We already said he'd come."

"Calm down!?" he almost shouted. "Did that jackass tell you what he did to me?"

Ranma and Naruto exchanged glances.

"It's been 9 or 10 years since he saw you last," Ranma said. "He said you were buddies."

"Just make sure he's there or it will end badly for you!" Ukyou snarled.

 _What did you do to him?_ Naruto asked.

 _I have no idea_ , Ranma replied mentally. _I honestly thought we were friends._

 _Like Ryouga?_ Naruto replied sarcastically.

Ranma returned a mental sigh. _I bet this is Pop's fault somehow._

Ukyou spent the rest of the day glaring at the two of them.

* * *

"Pop!" Ranma roared as he entered the Tendou yard. His father, as a panda, and Mr. Tendou were playing shogi, after a fashion—they both tended to cheat outrageously, on the porch. "What did you do to my old pal Uchan?!"

 **I didn't do anything!** read his father's sign.

"Kasumi, can I please have the kettle?" Naruto asked.

Kasumi nodded and handed her the tea kettle. Naruto flung its contents at the panda.

"Ouch!" Ranma's father exclaimed. "You know it needn't be that hot!"

Naruto just smirked.

"Why does Uchan hate me!?" Ranma demanded.

"I don't know," his pop said with a shrug. "Ask her yourself."

"Her!?" Ranma, Naruto, and Akane all exclaimed.

"Pop," Ranma said, "Uchan is a guy."

"Must not be that great a pal if you didn't know she was a girl," his father said with a smirk.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "I was six at the time, Pop. I didn't even know girls existed."

"Why would she dress as a boy now?" Akane wondered.

Genma simply shrugged and turned back to his game.

"I'm not done talking to you yet, Pop!" Ranma said. "Why does she hate me?"

His pop sighed and said, "Maybe because you chose okonomiyaki."

"Huh?" Ranma said.

His father explained, "The last day we spent near where the Kuonjis kept their yatai, I asked you which you liked better: okonomiyaki or Uchan. You answered okonomiyaki."

Naruto looked at him and arched a brow. "Really, Neechan?"

Ranma flushed. "I was six and I was always hungry 'cause Pop starved me. I didn't know any better!"

"That doesn't sound like enough reason for Ukyou to hate Ranma," Akane said.

"Hey!" Ranma said. "Is it because you ran off with their yatai? You said it was a gift."

"It was," Genma said.

"Why would they give it to you?" Ranma asked suspiciously.

"They said it was for a dowry," his father admitted with a shrug.

"Dowry!?" everyone exclaimed.

"What about our marriage pledge!?" Mr. Tendou shouted, his face ballooning into a giant head with a sinister, demon-like cast to it. "The Schools!"

Genma cowered for a moment before saying, "I told Kuonji about our pledge to join the Schools, but he insisted since the Boy and his daughter got along so well. Who was I to refuse his gift? If they were foolish enough to think it was for a dowry, that's their fault."

The whole yard was silent.

Finally, Mr. Tendou spoke, "Well in that case. . ."

Kasumi interrupted him, "I swear on my name and my mother's memory that Saotome Genma will have no involvement in raising or training any child of mine."

Nabiki, who had arrived in time to hear most of the conversation, smirked and said, "I swear on my name and my mother's memory that Saotome Genma will have no involvement in raising or training any child of mine."

Akane grimaced and said, "I swear on my name and my mother's memory that Saotome Genma will have no involvement in raising or training any child of mine."

Ranma said seriously, "I swear on my name and my honor as a martial artist that Saotome Genma will have no involvement in raising or training any child of mine."

Mr. Tendou and Ranma's father looked stricken.

Naruto piped in, "I swear on my name and the memory of my parents that Saotome Genma will have no involvement in raising or training any child of mine."

Everyone looked askance at her.

"What?" she said. "People think I'm Ranma's real sister. Better safe than sorry."

"You can't do that, Boy!" Genma spluttered.

"Withdraw the oaths, daughters," Mr. Tendou ordered.

"Isn't the life of a martial artist filled with sacrifice, Pop?" Ranma said with a smirk. "This is your sacrifice for training me to be a marital artist: a close relationship with your grandchildren and a hand in training them."

Kasumi turned to her father, "How can you ask me us to withdraw the oath, Father? Not only does this man have horrid training methods like the Cat Fist, but he is utterly lacking in honor!"

"Kasumi, apologize to my friend!" Mr. Tendou ordered.

Kasumi said, "I'm sorry that he's your friend."

She turned and entered the house. Nabiki and Akane followed her.

Mr. Tendou started to wail that his daughters hated him.

"Boy!" Genma barked. "Go tell your fiancées to withdraw their oaths!"

Ranma manifested his tails and started beating his fist into his palm. "I'll choose option two: beat some sense into my idiot pop!"

* * *

That night, Naruto and Ranma, ran to Harumi's house. Naruto had begun to feel not quite so negative about his curse now that he knew that the founder of his clan had been a fox youkai. However, he was still nervous about how it would be received in Konoha.

Ranma filled her mom in on what had happened early that day.

"We should probably move our schedule up for the big reveal," Harumi said. "If I know my dear husband, he's about ready to bolt."

Ranma nodded. "Pop doesn't handle this type of pressure well."

"I'll come over after school tomorrow," Harumi said.

"We'll be late due to meeting with Uchan, but that should be fine," Ranma said.

She hesitated, then added, "I think Pop will try something tonight."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I think he'll try to get me to sneak off with him, voluntarily or not," Ranma said. "Maybe we should stay awake all night."

"It would be better to get some sleep," Harumi said. "Tomorrow will be a big day for you."

"I have some basic seals I've managed to reproduce in the seal-scape," Naruto said. "One of them is a basic security alert. It should wake us up if he tries to get into our room."

"Can we test it out here to make sure it works, Mom?" Ranma asked.

* * *

Ranma was awakened by the sound of bells. He looked at Naruto. She made a ram hand sign, which silenced the bells. Sure enough, his pop was halfway in through the window.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night, Pop?" Ranma asked grumpily.

"It's time to go, Boy," he said. "Tendou didn't train his daughters to be the proper type of wife for a martial artist, so we're better off hitting the road again."

"Did you forget that I took the oath too, Pop?" Ranma said archly. "It doesn't matter if the Tendou girls did."

"Boy, you'll forget about that oath," his pop growled. "It's not an honorable oath to swear something like that against your father."

"What do you know about honor?" Naruto asked.

"Stay out of this, Girl!" Genma hissed.

"You're not endearing yourself to me by talking to my Imouto like that, Pop," Ranma said.

"She's not really your sister!" his pop growled.

Ranma shrugged. "She's more like family to me than you are."

Genma looked like he had been slapped. "Boy! Stop this foolishness and come with me!"

"No," Ranma said.

"What?!" Genma gaped.

"I like it here and I want to get to know mom better," Ranma said. "Plus I still need to learn how to control my curse from Naruto and Ero-sennin."

"They're making you soft and weak!" his pop exclaimed.

Ranma shrugged. "I know better than to trust you for an example of proper behavior."

Genma crouched, as if he were about to spring at Ranma.

Ranma sprouted his tails and ears. "Do you really think you can take me unwillingly?"

"You'll let your guard down sometime," Genma said.

"You going to keep me tied up all the time?" Ranma asked.

"Even if you do, how do you expect to hold a shapeshifter?" Naruto asked pointedly.

Genma growled and then turned to go out the window.

"If you're not here in the morning, don't bother coming back," Ranma said.

"What?" Genma said, gaping.

"If you're going to run away right now, just because things aren't going your way, I don't want anything to do with you. I'll follow Naruto to the Elemental Nations and you'll never see your legacy again."

"You've already said you're barring my grandchildren away from me," Genma said bitterly.

"No, I've said you won't have any involvement in raising or training them. If you stay, you will still be able to have supervised visits with any I might have," Ranma said. "Just be aware I won't be having any kids any time soon."

Genma scowled and then leapt out the window.

"Think he'll stick around?" Naruto asked.

Ranma shrugged. "Probably, but only because I made that last threat."

"Why do you bother?" she asked.

Ranma sighed. "He's still my pop. I can't hate him."

"Why the threats and oaths then?"

Ranma arched his eyebrows. "You have to ask? There's no way he should be let off a leash. Hopefully, Mom can keep him under control."

Naruto smirked. "I think your mom is resourceful enough."


	17. Chapter 17: Showdowns

Ukyou glared at Ranma and Naruto all through school.

 _She's lucky that we don't just ditch her, the way she's been glaring at us_ , Naruto thought to Ranma.

Ranma sighed mentally. _I'd rather try to patch things up with her._

After school, Naruto led Ukyou to the place where the now-male Ranma was waiting for them. Akane accompanied them.

"Hi, Buddy," Ranma greeted Ukyou.

"Buddy!?" Ukyou shrieked. "Do you know what you did to me?"

"Maybe," Ranma said. "I beat some answers out of Pop last night after I heard that you seemed to have a grudge against me."

"Grudge!?" Ukyou shouted. "You think this is just some grudge?"

Ranma scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not sure why your mad at me. I get that you're mad at Pop for stealing your yatai, but he told me it was a gift. I had nothing to do with it."

"You abandoned me, you jackass!" she shouted. "Everyone laughed at me for my fiancée leaving me. My father forced me to pretend to be a boy, so that we wouldn't be shamed anymore!"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," said Naruto interrupting her rant.

"What!?" Ukyou shrieked. Akane and Ranma looked at him in surprise.

"Both of you were six, right?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Ranma said.

"Not even Kiba was interested in girls at six, and he's the biggest pervert of all the boys my age that I know," Naruto said. "Even that jerk Sasuke didn't have any fangirls at six! Your father is an idiot!"

Ukyou flushed at the words.

"Look, Ukyou," Ranma said. "I feel bad that your dad made you do that, but I honestly didn't even know you were a girl until I forced Pop to tell me yesterday after school."

"You feeling bad doesn't make up for my ten years of suffering or give me back my dowry or my honor!" Ukyou said. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Why do people always hold me responsible for Pop's actions!?" Ranma groaned.

"Follow me," Ukyou said, "unless you're too much of a coward."

She led them to what looked like a boxing ring in the school soccer field. The outer rim of the ring, just inside the ropes was made out of metal. A number of people were hanging around it, obviously curious as to what it was.

"What are the terms?" Ranma asked.

"The terms are a battle to the death!" Ukyou said.

"What!?" Ranma said. "I'm not going to kill you, Ukyou!"

"I've been training non-stop for ten years for this moment!" Ukyou said, "I'm not going to lose. Now get into that ring unless you're not enough of a man to meet your fate head on."

Naruto snickered.

"What's so funny, jackass?" Ukyou snarled.

"Ranma. . . not enough of a man. . ." Naruto said, laughing.

"Thanks a lot, Imouto," Ranma grumped, glaring at him.

"No problem, Neechan," Naruto wheezed.

Akane rolled her eyes while Ukyou looked confused.

"Are you done yet?" Ranma asked Naruto, still annoyed.

"What's going on here?" Harumi's voice asked. They had planned to meet at the school before heading to the Tendous.

"Kuonji Ukyou wants to duel your son to the death because your husband stole her dowry, Bachan," Naruto said.

"She knows?" Akane asked, surprised.

Ranma nodded. "She's not as unreasonable as the Panda makes her sound."

Harumi turned to Ukyou and said, "Hello, I'm Saotome Nodoka. What is your issue with my son?"

"He stole my dowry!" Ukyou said.

"When was this?" Harumi asked.

"Ten years ago," Ukyou replied.

"You say that a six-year-old stole your dowry?" Harumi asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Stop trying to make me look bad!" Ukyou shouted. "I'm not at fault here!"

"You do realize that if you do manage to kill my son, you'll be spending a long time in jail for murder, don't you?" Harumi said.

"I have a right to avenge my honor," Ukyou proclaimed.

"Ms. Kuonji, the law will not pardon you simply because you claim that your honor demands it," Harumi said. "If you insist on this course of action, be warned that not only will you spend at least 15 years in jail, but the Saotome Clan of Tokyo will declare blood feud with the Kuonji Clan _and_ notify our cousins in Kyoto of the blood feud."

Ukyou paled. "The Saotome Clan of Tokyo?" she repeated. "Father said that Ranma belonged to the Saotome Clan of Nerima."

"The Saotome Clan of Nerima is a piece of fiction created by my husband because everyone knows that he doesn't speak for the Saotome Clan of Tokyo," explained Harumi.

"I'm going to need more proof than just your word, Mrs. Saotome," Ukyou said.

"Very well," Harumi said. She unwrapped the bundle she carried revealing the family honor sword. She held the sword out so that Ukyou could see a seal engraved on the blade near the hilt. "You recognize the seal of the Saotome Clan of Tokyo?"

Ukyou nodded. "Father showed me the seals of the Saotome Clans of Tokyo and Kyoto so that I wouldn't accuse them erroneously while I hunted for Ranma."

Ukyou slumped to the ground. "What am I going to do?" she groaned. "Father won't let me come home without the death of Ranma and his father or a marriage to Ranma."

"Don't look at me," Ranma said. "I'm too young to get married."

"The agreement isn't valid anyway," Harumi said. "Genma did not and does not have the authority to do so."

"What about my dowry?" Ukyou demanded. "Is your clan going to reimburse me for it?"

"Pop claims that he warned your dad about their already being an existing agreement with the Tendous but that your dad insisted we take the cart anyway," Ranma said.

Naruto snorted. "Your pop is a liar and a conman, you can't take what he says seriously."

"Father said that your dad agreed to dismiss the prior agreement," Ukyou said.

Naruto snorted again. "Your dad is a real piece of work too, Ukyou," he said. "He's forcing you to do this when _he's_ the one that agreed to a marriage pledge with someone already willing to drop an existing pledge for a new offer."

"But my dowry. . ." Ukyou said.

"Unfortunately, the only one that can help you there is Genma," Harumi said. "The clan makes it a policy not cover the debts of people like my husband or they would take advantage of it to the detriment of the clan."

"Good luck there," Naruto said dismissively.

"But won't your clan lose face unless they make amends or expel Genma?" Akane asked.

Harumi shrugged. "People are used to the eccentricities of our clan. It won't change anything."

Ukyou put her face in her hands and started to cry. "My life is over. I thought that when I finally found him I could make things better."

Ranma reached for her, but Harumi shook her head and he backed off.

She knelt down beside the sobbing girl and lifted her chin. "Now, the clan won't replace the yatai, but we will help you out. Either I or my mother will negotiate with your father. If he won't relent, I'm sure we can do something else to help you. If nothing else, we can offer you a lawyer to get you emancipated if your father is unreasonable and possibly some patronage. I can't speak for the clan on this, but I'm sure that we can do something."

Ukyou dried her tears and looked up. "What about Genma? Will you shield him too?"

Harumi shook her head. "No, we won't shield him. I only ask that you don't do anything permanent to him. He's not worth going to jail over."

Ukyou sighed and stood up.

"Ukyou?" Ranma asked. "You were my best friend growing up. I was hoping we could be buddies again."

"Even though you know I'm a girl?" she responded.

"You might as well show her, _Neechan_ ," Naruto said with a smirk. "If you're going to be friends with her, she's going to find out anyway."

Ranma sighed. "As a show of faith, I'm going to show you my most embarrassing secret. Please don't spread it around."

Ranma changed back to her girl form.

"Wait!" Ukyou said. "You're a girl too?"

"Not really," Ranma said. "About two months ago I was cursed at a place called Jusenkyo in China, along with Naruto, her guardian, and Pop. If you fall into a pool you pick up a shape-changing curse so that you turn into the type of thing that drowned there. Naruto and I picked up a girl curse. Pop turns into a panda and Naruto's guardian turns into an old crone. Normally the curse is affected by water. Cold water activates it and hot water deactivates it. There's something wrong with my curse though, in that I can't deactivate it yet. Luckily my cursed form has some natural shape-changing magic so I can turn back to normal for short periods of time. That's why I couldn't meet with you yesterday. I had already used up most of my shape-changing magic for the day."

"I have to see this to believe it," Ukyou said.

She pulled out her grill and placed a kettle on top of it.

"I told you that I can't deactivate my curse yet," Ranma said.

"Can she?" Ukyou said, pointing to Naruto.

"Yes, but. . ." Naruto vacillated. He did not want her to know about the fox part of their curse.

"It will be alright, Naru," Harumi said reassuringly.

"Okay, Bachan" Naruto said doubtfully.

"Just don't make it too hot," he said to Ukyou as he unlocked the seal that stopped him from changing with hot water.

He noticed a haze spring up around him. Harumi winked at him. Nobody else other than Ranma seemed to notice the haze.

After 5 minutes, Ukyou took the kettle off the grill and poured it on Naruto. He changed back to his normal male self. Ukyou took out a water bottle and splashed him with it turning him into a girl again. He looked over his shoulder and did not see his tails, even though he could still feel them moving. Harumi must have hidden them somehow and the haze must be something similar to a genjutsu. Ukyou splashed him with the kettle again. Then the cold water. This kept repeating itself while Ukyou giggled to herself. Naruto was starting to get annoyed.

"That's enough," he yelled. He relocked his curse in case she tried despite his protests.

Ukyou pouted. She turned to Ranma and asked, "How come you can't deactivate yours?"

Ranma glanced at Naruto. "Naruto had a different type of curse on her already and when we fell into the same pool, it interacted with the Jusenkyo magic and spread to me. Naruto was already used to this other curse, so she can deal with it, but I need time to get used to it."

Ukyou looked curious. "What's the nature of the other curse?"

"I'm afraid that we can't tell you," Naruto said. "It's a secret of my home town."

Ukyou looked doubtful at the explanation, but did not press them about it. She looked over at the now-female Ranma. "So you spend most of your day as a girl?"

Ranma looked embarrassed, but nodded. "I only can hold my male transformation for three hours a day. I usually spend most of that sparring with Naruto and Pop in the morning before school."

"Is it a full transformation?" Ukyou asked.

"As far as we can tell," Ranma answered.

"Have you had your monthly visitor yet?" she asked with a smirk.

Ranma and Naruto both blanched. "No," Ranma answered.

"We think the curse messed it up," Naruto added, "but we've been told to expect one before too long."

"Ah, so you aren't real women yet then," she said, giggling.

"I can't wait to see how macho Ranma handles it," Akane added, joining the giggling.

Ranma pouted. Naruto smirked. He doubted that his sister realized how cute her pout looked.

Ukyou smirked at Ranma. "I don't know if we can be buddies, Ranchan—that's more of a boy thing, but I think we can be friends. I need a girl friend to go shopping with me to pick out some new outfits—my current wardrobe is way too masculine and I think I want to change that."

Ranma blanched. "I'll gladly be friends with you again, Uchan, but I think Akane would enjoy clothes shopping more than I would."

Ukyou grinned devilishly. "Call it payback for choosing okonomiyaki over Uchan, Ranchan."

Ranma groaned.

Naruto grinned. "Ah, come on, Neechan. It won't be that bad. I'm sure you'll look cute."

"Just because you have no shame, Imouto, doesn't mean _I_ want to look cute."

"Too late!" Naruto exclaimed.

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Do you want to follow us to Akane's house, Uchan? You can show the Panda how you feel about him."

"Sure," she said.

* * *

When they arrived at the Tendou dojo, they found Ranma's pop just coming out of the fish pond. His mother had lagged behind, to give Ukyou some time.

Ranma snorted.

"He really is a panda, huh?" Ukyou asked.

Ranma nodded. "Yep, and still trying to hide from responsibility."

His pop held up a sign that said, **I'm just an innocent panda.**

"Akane's sister, Kasumi, can get some hot water for you," Ranma told her.

 **What do you think you're doing, Boy!** his father's sign read as Akane introduced Ukyou to Kasumi.

"I'm not taking the fall for you any more, Pop," he replied.

 **You'll do as your told, Boy!**

"How are you going to make me, Pop?" Ranma replied.

The panda leapt at him and they started fighting. Ranma dodged his father's blows. He saw Ukyou coming up behind his pop and leapt back as she threw the hot water at him.

"Ouch!" he yelled. "It needn't be that hot!"

He turned around to see Ukyou glaring at him. "Ms. Kuonji, I presume?" he said.

"That's right," Ukyou said. "And you owe me my yatai back, plus interest!"

Genma waved dismissively. "Your father gave it to me and insisted that I take it."

"That was on the condition that you take me with you on your training trip and that I marry Ranchan when we were older," she yelled.

"The boy has to marry a Tendou to unite the Schools," Ranma's father said.

"Then you shouldn't have agreed and taken my dowry, jackass!" she yelled as she swiped at him with her gigantic spatula.

Genma leapt back. Ukyou threw a flour packet at him which exploded. While he was stunned from the blast, she threw noodles at him, which wrapped around him, holding his arms tight to his chest. He strained hard enough that he was able to burst the noodles. However, this allowed Ukyou the time to close with him. She slammed the flat of her spatula into his shoulder, causing him to stagger backwards.

"I don't have to deal with you, girl!" he snarled. "If you wanted the yatai back, you should have asked for it years ago!"

"It took me this long to track you down, jackass!" she exclaimed.

Genma flared his battle aura brightly and then damped it down dramatically. This action caused him to disappear from sight. Ranma was shocked. He had never seen his father use this technique before. He could still smell him nearby with his sensitive nose, so he had not gone far.

"I thought you had sealed that technique away years ago, Genma," Ranma's mother said from just inside the gate." She was glaring at a spot just in front of her.

Ranma's father faded back into view in the spot where Harumi had been looking.

"Nodoka!" he exclaimed. "I'm happy to see you, but I'm a little busy with Ms. Kuonji at the moment."

"Running away again, Mr. Panda?" she said, arching her eyebrow.

"The Saotome Secret Technique is a valid move!" Genma exclaimed.

"Secret Technique?" Naruto asked Ranma.

"Run away until you can think of something better to do," Ranma explained.

"There is still the matter of you stealing our son, getting him cursed, and the contract," Harumi said, drawing the family sword from the cloth.

Genma turned ghost white.

"I'm sorry, Ukyou," she told the okonomiyaki chef, "but I'm afraid my claim takes precedence."

"Very well," Ukyou said. "I'll extract my bit if there's anything left of him after you're done."

"Nodoka!" Genma exclaimed. "We just got back and were going to see you soon!"

"And the reason why you didn't talk to me when I came to visit, Mr. Panda?" she asked.

"I. . ." Genma stuttered.

"While I'm sure your family drama is quite riveting," a deep, scratchy voice called out, "we would really have to insist that you turn over the Kyuubi to us now."

Ranma turned to look at where the voice was coming from. Two figures stood on the roof of the Tendou home. The one which had spoken had a blueish face with a shark-like features. The other, more-normal one, had red eyes with three black, spinning tomoe in each of them. They both wore black cloaks with red clouds on them.

"Akatsuki," Naruto murmured.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Bwahahahahaha!

For the curious: Harumi/Nodoka is bluffing about the Kyoto Saotomes. They don't get along with the Tokyo branch and wouldn't honor a blood feud.


	18. Chapter 18: Akatsuki Strikes

"Did you really think that you could hide from us by posing as a girl, Naruto?" Itachi asked. "Did you think that we would not discover your most infamous technique, the Oiroke no Jutsu?"

"Oiroke no Jutsu?" Ranma asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It's an anti-pervert technique," Naruto answered absently, trying to figure out how they had found him.

"Anti-pervert technique," Nabiki drawled. "Right." Naruto had barely noticed that she had followed Kasumi out of the house when they had first arrived.

 _We are going to have_ words _about your so-called anti-pervert technique, son_ , Kushina growled mentally.

Naruto shuddered. He called out, "How did you even know to look here?"

"When we couldn't find traces of you in the Elemental Nations," Kisame said, "one of our colleagues looked in the main centers of the near outside world. Imagine our surprise when we found you in a magazine using your _real name_ and only your stupid technique as a disguise!"

Everyone turned to glare at Nabiki. She only shrugged lazily, as if it were not her problem.

"Since Lord Jiraiya seems to have abandoned you, we decided to take advantage," Itachi added. "Will you come with us quietly?"

"Naruto? Quietly?" Nabiki said with a snort.

Kisame looked curiously at Ranma. "What's with the red-haired Shadow Clone?" the shark man asked.

"Perhaps he found out about his mother?" Itachi said idly.

 _Are you willing to prank Itachi, Ranma?_ Kushina asked mentally. _He's the one that doesn't look like a fish. We might be able to throw him off balance._

 _I'm game_ , Ranma responded.

 _Just repeat what I say and add the appropriate emotions_ , Naruto's mother said. _Just don't look him in the eyes, whatever else you do._

"I've been meaning to have _words_ with you, Itachi-honey," Ranma said, repeating the prompt from Naruto's mother, "on how I feel about matricide."

Naruto smirked. Ranma's acting skills had improved dramatically over the time since he had known her. He suspected that a lot of the skill increase was due to her kitsune nature. Naruto was carefully avoiding looking at Itachi's face, so he could only tell his response from his voice.

"Only matricide?" Itachi answered blandly.

"That jackass Fugaku probably deserved it," Ranma said, repeating Kushina's words, "but Mikoto was one of the few decent Uchiha."

"You presume to know a lot about things that happened when you were very young, Naruto," Itachi said stoically.

Ranma snorted. "I changed your diapers on more than one occasion, Itachi-honey. I can presume a lot."

 _It's too bad that Ranma can't make her hair writhe_ , Naruto's father commented. _That was always the best part of your temper tantrums, Dear._

 _I do not have temper tantrums!_ Kushina snarled.

 _Yes, Dear_ , Minato said quickly.

Naruto tried not to snicker at his parents' antics.

"Uzumaki Kushina is dead," Itachi commented. "You only changed your Shadow Clone's hair, Naruto. She only vaguely looks like my mother's friend."

"You really think that two seal masters couldn't find a way to preserve a consciousness inside a seal already designed to handle one?" Ranma said. "I'm inhabiting one of my child's Shadow Clones in order to help out."

"That's possible, but unlikely," Itachi said.

"Your fourth birthday, a bucket of ice cream, your grandfather's toupee, and two white mice," Ranma said with a snicker.

"Whether you are Aunt Kushina or not hardly matters," Itachi said. "Naruto must come with us."

Kushina pouted inside Naruto's head at the lack of reaction from the missing nin. The Tendous and the others, however, were looking at Ranma oddly.

 _Can you distract them while I try to send a message to Jiraiya, Neechan?_ Naruto asked.

 _I'm certain I can handle one of them, but if I have to avoid looking in the dark-haired one's eyes. . ._ Ranma returned.

 _And the sharky one's sword,_ Naruto added. _It will steal your chakra._

Ranma snorted mentally. _I can avoid a sword—especially one as big and unwieldy as that one._

 _He also uses long-range water ninjutsu_ , Naruto added.

Ranma grimaced mentally. _That makes it tricky if I have to watch where I look._

 _I'll send clones to try and distract Kisame_ , Naruto said.

Naruto formed 20 clones. Six of them surrounded Kisame, while Ranma leapt toward Itachi. He needed to get out of sight momentarily in order to summon without interference.

"Do you have a plan to deal with them?" Harumi's voice appeared beside him.

"I can summon a toad to let my guardian know we need him," Naruto told her. "Hopefully he's close by. He was supposed to return any day now."

 _The toads can reverse summon Jiraiya-sensei even if he's not nearby_ , his father said.

"But you need to be interruption free?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I can make surround you with an illusion that masks you from sight and hearing," she said.

"Awesome, Harumi-bachan!" he exclaimed.

"Can you do anything about those guys?" Naruto asked. "I doubt that your illusions would work on Itachi, the more normal-looking one—he's supposed to be a genjutsu master, but if you can help my clones with the shark guy, Kisame?"

"I can," she said.

The number of clones attacking Kisame tripled.

Kisame laughed. "Samehada eats clones for breakfast. It especially likes your Shadow Clones, Kyuubi,"

The shark man, who had been toying with the clones up until that point, sped up his swings. Samehada passed right through a clone without disturbing it. While he was distracted by Samehada's non-effect on the illusion clone, a Shadow Clone nailed him in the head with a kick. Kisame went flying a short distance, but recovered with very little ill effect.

He gave a barking laugh. "You've gotten better, Kyuubi, but not good enough. You'll have to tell me how your clones are not effected by Samehada."

One of Naruto's clones said, "Why would I tell you anything, Fishface?"

"Huh," Naruto said. "It looks like Samehada can't absorb your magic like it can chakra, Bachan."

"I can only handle four illusions at once as long as only one of them is complex," she said, "so between holding the illusion making us invisible, the separate one covering your tails and ears, and the illusion on extra clones, I can only do the clones as one cohesive illusion. The clones won't be as independent as would be preferred."

"You're still hiding my tails?" he asked surprised.

"It's an easy illusion to do and takes very little concentration," she said. "I wasn't sure how long you would need it."

"Can you do Ranma's too, as your fourth?" he asked. "Itachi is tough. She'll need the extra speed and strength."

"I've applied it," she said after a moment.

 _Neechan_ , Naruto said mentally, _your mom is covering your tails and ears with an illusion. You can let them out to help you against, Itachi._

 _Got it, Imouto_ , she replied. _Thanks._

Naruto manifested his tails. He looked and verified that they were invisible. Then he made more clones to send after Kisame. The sharkman had "popped" half of his clones.

"That feels odd," Harumi said. "My illusion over your tails just splintered, but it's still holding."

"Will it be a problem?" he asked.

"It doesn't seem like it," she replied.

"I'm going to Summon now," he warned her. "Be prepared."

Naruto bit his finger, made the hand seals, and slammed his hand into the ground. "Summoning Technique."

Gamakichi's orange form appeared. He had gotten pretty large. Before too long, Naruto was going to have to have Jiraiya teach him to summon one of the smaller messenger toads because Gamakichi would be too big.

"Naruto?" Gamakichi asked, confused as he looked up at where Naruto stood on his head. "You look different."

"I'll explain later, Kichi," he said as he hopped down off the Akimichi-sized toad. "I'm in a bit of a bind. I need you to get Ero-sennin here quickly. Can you reverse summon him?"

"I suppose," Gamakichi said. "But I'll have to have him summoned to Mt. Myouboku first."

"If he complains," Naruto added. "Tell him Akatsuki found us and we're under attack."

"Alright, Bro," the toad said. "Summon me again in three minutes."

* * *

Ranma hated to admit it, but he was glad that his mom was hiding his tails so that he could use his curse's default form for extra speed and strength. Itachi did not have the raw speed that Ranma had, but his reaction time and intuition were superb. He always managed to block or dodge Ranma's attacks. A few counterattacks had landed on Ranma, but not with enough force to injure him.

Ranma's gaze followed one of Itachi's hands and he felt himself becoming tired.

 _Genjutsu!_ exclaimed Minato. _Flare your chakra, Ranma_.

Ranma did so and the tired feeling went away.

"I'm impressed, whoever you are," Itachi said. "Not many can shake off one of my genjutsu that easily."

"I'm a possessed Shadow Clone, remember?" Ranma said.

"I don't know exactly how you got Kushina-obasan's memories," Itachi said, "but you're not a Shadow Clone of her or Naruto."

"You don't have the right to call me that while trying to kill my son!" Ranma snapped on Kushina's behalf.

"I suppose not," Itachi said. Ranma might have been imagining things, but he thought he heard the tiniest edge of regret in Itachi's voice.

Ranma dodged a blow and retaliated only to be blocked. He was certain that Itachi was reinforcing his blocking arm with chakra—otherwise the hammering it was receiving from his youkai strength would have shattered it.

"Your skills are decent," Itachi said after another minute of fighting, "but eventually you will make a mistake and then it will be all over."

"I don't lose!" Ranma asserted.

Itachi rolled to duck a swing of Jeru's chui as she joined the battle.

"Grandmother felt two large, but unknown, auras here and we came to investigate," she explained.

"Don't look in his eyes, Bachan," Ranma warned. "He can make powerful illusions if you do."

"Call me mother," Jeru said firmly.

Ranma said, "Okay." He was not really comfortable doing so, especially now that he had met his real mother, but he did not want to offend the woman or her family.

"You are not an Uzumaki or Namikaze," Itachi stated.

"I adopted her by the customs of my people," Jeru said. "You would do well to retreat, stranger, before you make an enemy of the Village of Hero Women."

"Hero Women?" Itachi said. "Is that why Naruto is hiding as a girl?"

"We don't owe you an explanation, matricide," Ranma stated.

"This male has committed matricide?" Jeru asked.

"Yes, and his entire clan save his little brother," Ranma said, remembering what Naruto had told him.

"I pronounce death upon you," Jeru said harshly.

"Only my foolish little brother can do so, if he finds the strength," Itachi said.

"He is not here and vengeance is a woman's duty," Jeru said.

Ranma stole a glance at the other fight while Jeru pressed Itachi, Koron and Shanpuu had taken over most of the battle with Kisame from Naruto's clones.

Suddenly, Jeru froze, caught in one of Itachi's genjutsu. Ranma intercepted the blow that would have finished her and then slammed a blow into her ribs, knocking her out of the way.

"If you feel yourself caught in an illusion, flare your ki," he told her.

Suddenly smoke filled the yard. Out of the smoke came a voice that said, "From the North and the South, Mt. Myouboku's holy sage, the man that other men can only aspire to be and that women flock to, the gallant Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya emerged from the smoke doing a shuffling kabuki dance.

"Not any more, Husband!" Jeru called out.

"Brat," Jiraiya said to Naruto, who was standing near him, "you didn't tell me _she_ was here."

"She wasn't when I had you summoned," Naruto said. "Would you really have let me be taken just to avoid her?" Naruto looked irritated.

"No, I suppose not," the Toad Sage said with a sigh.

"Husband?" Itachi asked with a tinge of amusement.

"Another custom of her people," Ranma said.

"Kisame, we're leaving," Itachi called.

"Ah," Kisame complained. "Things were just getting interesting."

"Capturing Naruto here was just a target of opportunity," Itachi said. "We don't want to call attention to us from the outside world yet. The fight that it would take to capture him would do so."

"You think you can just walk out of here, Kinslayer?" Jeru said angrily.

"Let him go, Kaasan," Ranma said.

"But. . ." she protested.

"We don't want to destroy the neighborhood or our friends' house either," he explained.

"We'll meet again, Naruto," Itachi called as they walked away unhurriedly.

Ranma and Jeru joined the other fighters. The Tendous, Saotomes, and Ukyou also joined them.

Akane and Ukyou were complaining that Naruto had her clones keep them out of the fight.

"I'm sorry girls, but Kisame and Itachi are S-Class criminals," Naruto explained. "Akane, you're only a C-class fighter. Ukyou, I don't know what your skill level is, but I doubt it's S-class."

"Are you saying that Ranma is an S-class fighter?" Akane said, irritated.

"She's not," Naruto said.

Ranma shot his sister an irritated look.

"Sorry, Neechan," Naruto said, "but you're not. She is, however, A-class in a close-range battle. She was the best chance we had of delaying one of them until Jiraiya got here. Truthfully, we were lucky that they weren't supposed to go all out."

Ranma sighed. "Naruto is right. He was playing with me and I still had a hard time. I think there's a good chance I could have won because of that, but. . ."

Naruto snorted. "You always think that, Neechan."

"What was that man we fought?" Koron asked. "I paralyzed his swordarm with a pressure point, but the sword merged into him and he changed and got motion back into his arm."

"Hoshigaki Kisame," Jiraiya said. "One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. His sword, Samehada, absorbs what you call ki and is sentient. His appearance is a side effect of having merged with it and when he is merged, he is hardly human. That must be why he shrugged off your pressure point."

"Are you ready to submit to your responsibilities, Husband?" Jeru asked Jiraiya.

"I'm not your husband, Jeru," he said firmly.

"A Hero Woman always gets what she wants, Husband," she returned.

"Who are these people, Ranma?" Harumi asked.

"Kaachan, this is the Amazon family that adopted Naruto and me while we were in China: Shanpuu, my sister; Jeru, my mother; and Koron, my great-grandmother. Shanpuu, Jeru, Koron, this is my biological mother, Saotome Nodoka."

"It is an honor to meet the mother of my daughter," Geru said, speaking for the Amazons. All three of them bowed to Harumi.

"Thank you for looking after my child," Harumi said, bowing in return.

* * *

Naruto smiled as Ranma introduced her mother to the Amazons.

"Brat, we can't stay here any longer," Jiraiya told him.

"I know," Naruto said with a sigh. He would miss the Tendous, even Nabiki. The thought of leaving Ranma behind—he did not even want to think about it.

The Tendou's yard went silent.

"I'm coming with you," Ranma proclaimed. "You still owe me help with my chakra, Ero-sennin."

Genma and Mr. Tendou immediately protested, "The Schools must be joined!"

"Neither myself as head of the family nor my grandmother as head of the clan have authorized any marriage agreement with the Tendou family," Ranma's mother stated firmly.

"Hah!" Genma exclaimed. "When the courts see the seppuku agreement, they'll give custody of the boy to me!"

The silence returned, deeper and harsher than before, until Harumi palmed her forehead. "Genma, you're an idiot. The only signature on the so-called contract is yours."

Everyone minus Soun glared at him. The man shrunk in on himself slightly before squaring his shoulders and saying, "Woman, I'm the man of the house and I've decided. . ."

Harumi pulled the covering of the silk bundle she was carrying away from the hilt of the sword that was hidden inside it and then bared a couple of inches of the blade. Genma stared at it, transfixed.

"You were saying, Dearest Husband?" she asked.

Genma ran and jumped in the fishpond. He waved a sign that said, **I'm just a cute panda.**

"Nodoka," Mr. Tendou said, "it would be highly advantageous for our families to unite so that the Schools of Anything Goes can flourish."

"Soun," Harumi replied, "I'm not going to argue the merits of the arrangement that my husband and you came to. I do think that Ranma is too young to be forced into this. If he does want to marry one of your daughters later, that's fine with me, but I won't force him into it."

"But the Schools!" Soun wailed. All of his daughters took a step away from him, embarrassed by his behavior.

Harumi turned to Jiraiya. "I will be accompanying you as well. There are things that Ranma and Naruto need to learn from me that they can't learn from you."

Jiraiya looked uncomfortable. "I suppose we have time to stay for a little while so that you can give them _the talk_. . ."

Ranma's mother giggled. "This is not about that. I'll explain in more detail later."

"Husband. . ." Jeru began.

"Absolutely not," Jiraiya said forcefully. "You are not coming with us."

"You can run all you want, Husband," Jeru said with a smirk. "But I will get what I want in the end."

Jiraiya turned back to Harumi. "We'll be traveling quick and light. Are you sure you can keep up?"

"I'm sure," she said with a smirk.

"Brats," Jiraiya said, "say your farewells. We leave in half an hour."

* * *

Ranma tentatively hugged Kasumi goodbye.

"You were a pleasant guest," she said. "I wish you luck in your travels."

"Thanks, Kasumi," he replied.

He had enjoyed all the Tendou girls in different fashions, but he was not sure how to say goodbye to them. He was grateful that the marriage agreement had been dissolved—not that he could not see himself marrying one of them, but he was too young and he hated that the choice had been taken away from him.

Nabiki smirked at him. "You are something else, Saotome," she said. "I don't know exactly what, but it could have been fun."

He returned her smirk and nodded to her. "It could have been fun," he agreed as she also hugged him as Kasumi was hugging Naruto.

He stood in front of Akane while Naruto and Nabiki were saying goodbye. After a moment, Naruto stood beside him. Akane's eyes leaked a few tears. She embraced them both in the same hug.

"I know it hasn't been that long, but you two are my best friends," she said fiercely. "I'll miss you both."

"Hey," Ranma said. "We'll be back to visit once Naruto's trouble with this Akatsuki is cleared up."

"Definitely," Naruto said.

"Take care of yourselves," Akane said.

"Hey, it's us," Ranma said.

Akane rolled her eyes. "I know, that's why I said it."

The three of them shared a grin.

Ranma approached Ukyou, who was talking to his mother. He waited while they finished talking about how the okonomiyaki chef could get in touch with Ranma's grandmother.

"Sorry to run out on you again, Ukyou," Ranma said. "I need to stick to my Imouto until this business with those creeps is over."

"What's this all about?" Ukyou said.

"Sorry," Naruto said, "but we can't say anything about it or we'll have problems with my homeland."

Ukyou sighed.

"I hope Grandma can set your pop straight," Ranma said.

"I hope so too," Ukyou said, "but if not, at least this mess with the broken engagement will be over for me."

They said goodbye to Ukyou and approached the Amazons.

Koron handed Ranma as scroll. "I had planned to teach you this soon," she said.

Ranma opened the scroll and read the title, "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire."

"I'll leave you to figure out what the technique does," the old woman said with a smirk. "I believe you're ready for it. Naru should work on her speed a bit more before she attempts it."

She handed Naruto a small wooden box. Her wrinkled face split with a wide grin.

"Temporary Jusenkyo?" Naruto read.

"These are packets that you add water to like instant noodles. Splash someone with that water and they gain a temporary Jusenkyo curse until they are splashed with hot water. I put several temporary boy and girl packets each in the box in case you have to convince your people about the curse."

Naruto began to cackle evilly.

Ranma shook his head. "Imouto claims she was the 'Prankster King' of her home village when she was little. I think you created a monster, Hibaachan."

Ranma and Naruto each hugged Koron and then Shanpuu.

"This one will miss Sisters too, too much!" the bubbly girl said, on the verge of tears.

"Like we told the others," Naruto said. "We'll come back and visit when we can!"

Jeru also wrapped them in hugs. "I suspect we will see each other soon, Daughters. Try and keep your father out of trouble until then."

"The panda?" Ranma said, confused.

"No, my daughter," she said. "I speak of my husband."

"What!?" exclaimed Naruto. "Ero-sennin?"

All three Amazons chuckled.

Jeru handed Naruto a letter. "For the Matriarch of your village about Husband," she said.

Naruto nodded with a grin as she took the letter.

As they were returning to where Jiraiya waited, Mr. Tendou approached them having recovered from his crying fit.

"Ranma," he began.

Ranma shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tendou. I like your daughters, but I'm not prepared to choose one of them or even guarantee that I ever will."

Mr. Tendou bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"I do thank you for your hospitality," Ranma added after prompting from Kushina. "You were a very kind host."

The three of them exchanged bows.

Ranma and Naruto approached Jiraiya. Ranma looked for his mom. As his gaze passed over his panda father at the edge of the pond, he saw his mother appear out of nowhere and snap a collar with a leash around the panda's neck.

"Come along, Dear," she said. "We still have things to talk about."

The panda shuddered as it was pulled along.

The End (for now).

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. This is actually my favorite of my own stories that I've written up until now. I plan to write a sequel with the action moving to the Elemental Nations post-training trip.

Kushina has Ranma call Itachi "honey" as a translation for "Itachi-chan" which is what an honorary aunt would call a baby of either gender.


	19. Sequel Notice

The sequel to The Shared Doom: Double the Trouble will be posted momentarily. Look for it in a few minutes.


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